Tiger Woods will resolve his DUI case by entering into a first-time offenders program that knocks the charge down to a reckless driving count, according to plans revealed on Wednesday.
Woods is expected in court Oct. 25 to plead guilty to the second-degree misdemeanor reckless driving charge. If he completes a series of punishments in the yearlong program, he’ll avoid a DUI conviction stemming from his May 29 arrest by Jupiter, Fla., police. In the DUI case, Woods is accused of being impaired by prescription drugs behind the wheel of his Mercedes-Benz.
The 41-year-old Hobe Sound, Fla., resident was arrested after an officer approached his idling car in the 2900 block of Military Trail at 2:03 a.m. Police did not see him driving. But his black 2015 sedan had two flat tires, damage to the rims and bumpers, scrape marks on the driver’s side and a taillight appeared to be out, according to police.
While Woods was slurring his speech and stumbling around, there were no signs he had been drinking. He passed a Breathalyzer test with perfect 0.00 but still failed field sobriety tests, police said.
A patrol car dash-cam video showed Woods unsteady on his feet. One of the world’s most recognizable athletes, he couldn’t turn and walk a straight line, maintain a standing position on one leg or understand instructions to recite the alphabet.
Woods later told officers the medications he had been taking included Vicodin, a pain medication, and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax. The federal government warns that mixing such drugs can cause “profound sedation,” among other serious conditions.
After his arrest became international news, Woods addressed his fans with a statement that he had an “unexpected reaction” to medication to aid his recovery from back surgery the previous month.
Woods said he later entered a treatment program while being sidelined from championship play. “I didn’t realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly. … I expect more from myself,” he said.
Last month, Woods announced he had completed an out-of-state “private intensive program” for dealing with pain medications, and would “continue to tackle this going forward.”
In Florida, there are no legally defined levels of drugs that say a person was impaired while driving, making it harder to obtain a conviction, experts say. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says a good roadside test doesn’t exist for drug testing.
But a DUI charge is the same, for driving while on drugs or alcohol. Woods, though, sought to immediately distance himself from the stigma of drunk driving.
“I want the public to know that alcohol was not involved,” he said hours after his arrest, while thanking police for their “professionalism” in the case.
He was also given a traffic ticket for improper stopping.