Woods’ arrest on Friday followed a crash near his home on Jupiter Island, Florida, where authorities said he struck another vehicle and rolled his Land Rover. Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods was arrested at the scene and that officials observed signs of impairment.
Authorities said Woods underwent a Breathalyzer test, which came back negative. Budensiek said Woods refused to take a urine test.
Woods was charged Friday with driving under the influence with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, both misdemeanors, according to Budensiek. Neither Woods nor the person in the other vehicle were reported injured.
The arrest marked a new high-profile auto incident in a sequence officials described as including multiple earlier crashes and prior DUI-related legal trouble. Woods’ case in Florida also adds to a record that dates to at least 2009, when he faced a police investigation after colliding with a fire hydrant and a tree.
In 2017, south Florida police charged Woods after they found him asleep behind the wheel of his car with the engine running; the vehicle was parked in a traffic lane and had damage to the driver’s side. Woods said he had taken a mix of prescription painkillers and had a bad reaction.
In that 2017 case, Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving and agreed to complete a first-time DUI offender program to stay out of jail. He received a year of probation, a small fine and community service, authorities said.
In February 2021, Woods survived another rollover crash in Los Angeles County, in which his SUV ran off a coastal road at high speed. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Woods was driving between 84 and 87 miles per hour on a winding road with a speed limit of 45 miles per hour when he crashed, and no charges were filed.
Doctors said Woods shattered tibia and fibula bones of his lower right leg in multiple locations, stabilizing the injuries with a rod in the tibia and using screws and pins for additional injuries in the foot and ankle. He said the possibility of amputating his right leg was discussed during recovery, and that he spent three months immobilized before he could start moving on crutches and later walk on his own.
Woods did not play on the PGA Tour in 2021, returning to the Masters in 2022, according to the report.
Earlier still, authorities said Woods collided with a fire hydrant and a tree in a neighbor’s yard after leaving his home in Orlando, Florida, early on Nov. 27, 2009. Investigators said he drove his Cadillac Escalade into the fire hydrant and the tree about 2:30 a.m.
The report said that collision came two days after the National Enquirer published allegations that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess and had recently been together in Melbourne. At the time, the Windermere police chief said officers found Woods lying in the street with his then-wife, Elin Nordegren, hovering over him, and that she told officers she was in the house when she heard the crash and came out and broke the back window with a golf club.
Authorities said Woods had lacerations to his upper and lower lips and blood in his mouth.
The March Florida arrest does not mark the first time Woods has been charged in connection with impaired driving or other incidents involving his vehicles, but it is the second time, officials said, that he was charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol as part of a broader set of auto-related events.