Sheriff speaking today about Tiger Woods crash investigation
By Orange County on April 7, 2021
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva will provide an update Wednesday morning on the investigation into the crash that seriously injured pro golfer Tiger Woods.
Last Wednesday, Villanueva announced the investigation into the Rancho Palos Verdes rollover crash had been completed but that details were being withheld due to privacy issues.
“A cause has been determined, the investigation has concluded,” Villanueva said. “However, we have reached out to Tiger Woods and his personnel. There’s some privacy issues on releasing information on the investigation, and we’re going to ask them if they waive the privacy. Then we’ll be able to do a full release on all the information regarding the accident.”
Villanueva said investigators obtained the “black box” from the Genesis GV80 SUV Woods was driving at 7:12 a.m. Feb. 23 when he struck the center median on northbound Hawthorne Boulevard at Blackhorse Road. The SUV careened across the southbound lanes, sheered off a tree and flipped over before coming to rest on its side about 30 yards off the side of the road.
A law enforcement officer looks over a damaged vehicle following a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
FILE – In this Oct. 28, 2019, file photo, Tiger Woods smiles during the winner’s ceremony after winning the Zozo Championship PGA Tour at the Accordia Golf Narashino country club in Inzai, east of Tokyo, Japan. A man who found Woods unconscious in a mangled SUV last week after the golf star who later told sheriff’s deputies he did not know how the collision occurred and didn’t even remember driving, crashed the vehicle in Southern California, authorities said in court documents. Law enforcement has not previously disclosed that Woods had been unconscious following the collision. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
Workers remove debris near a vehicle on its side after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A vehicle rests on its side after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
A crane is used to lift a vehicle following a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Workers move a vehicle after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
A law enforcement officer looks over a damaged vehicle following a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
A worker moves debris after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A law enforcement officer looks over a damaged vehicle following a rollover involving golfer Tiger Woods on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in Rancho Palos Verdes. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Tiger Woods car is removed from a hill side after he suffered multiple leg injuries and was undergoing surgery following a vehicle rollover crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes CA, area early Tuesday, Fed 23,2021.
The crash happened on the border of Rolling Hills Estates around 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led up the crash were not released, but authorities say the car was traveling northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when it crashed at Blackhorse Road. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Tiger Woods car is removed from a hill side after he suffered multiple leg injuries and was undergoing surgery following a vehicle rollover crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes CA, area early Tuesday, Fed 23,2021.
The crash happened on the border of Rolling Hills Estates around 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led up the crash were not released, but authorities say the car was traveling northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when it crashed at Blackhorse Road. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Sheriff investigators look over the SUV Tiger Woods he was driving after he suffered multiple leg injuries and was undergoing surgery following a vehicle rollover crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes CA, area early Tuesday, Fed 23,2021.
The crash happened on the border of Rolling Hills Estates around 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led up the crash were not released, but authorities say the car was traveling northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when it crashed at Blackhorse Road. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Sheriff investigators look over the SUV Tiger Woods he was driving after he suffered multiple leg injuries and was undergoing surgery following a vehicle rollover crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes CA, area early Tuesday, Fed 23,2021.
The crash happened on the border of Rolling Hills Estates around 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led up the crash were not released, but authorities say the car was traveling northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when it crashed at Blackhorse Road. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Sheriff investigators look over the SUV Tiger Woods he was driving after he suffered multiple leg injuries and was undergoing surgery following a vehicle rollover crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes CA, area early Tuesday, Fed 23,2021.
The crash happened on the border of Rolling Hills Estates around 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led up the crash were not released, but authorities say the car was traveling northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when it crashed at Blackhorse Road. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Tiger Woods car is removed from a hill side after he suffered multiple leg injuries and was undergoing surgery following a vehicle rollover crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes CA, area early Tuesday, Fed 23,2021.
The crash happened on the border of Rolling Hills Estates around 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led up the crash were not released, but authorities say the car was traveling northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when it crashed at Blackhorse Road. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Sheriff investigators look over the SUV Tiger Woods he was driving after he suffered multiple leg injuries and was undergoing surgery following a vehicle rollover crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes CA, area early Tuesday, Fed 23,2021.
The crash happened on the border of Rolling Hills Estates around 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led up the crash were not released, but authorities say the car was traveling northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when it crashed at Blackhorse Road. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
Tiger Woods car is removed from a hill side after he suffered multiple leg injuries and was undergoing surgery following a vehicle rollover crash in the Rancho Palos Verdes CA, area early Tuesday, Fed 23,2021.
The crash happened on the border of Rolling Hills Estates around 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Details about what led up the crash were not released, but authorities say the car was traveling northbound on Hawthorne Boulevard when it crashed at Blackhorse Road. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Contributing Photographer)
A vehicle rests on its side after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods along a road in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
A vehicle rests on its side after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods along a road in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. Woods suffered leg injuries in the one-car accident and was undergoing surgery, authorities and his manager said. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
In this aerial image take from video provided by KABC-TV, a vehicle rest on its side after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods along a road in the Rancho Palos Verdes section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. Woods had to be extricated from the vehicle with the “jaws of life” tools, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. Woods was taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries. The vehicle sustained major damage, the sheriff’s department said. (KABC-TV via AP)
Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes was closed after a single-vehicle rollover crash Tuesday morning, Feb. 23, 2021, left Tiger Woods hospitalized. The road was closed Tuesday afternoon and traffic was being diverted onto Black Horse Road. (Photo by Hunter Lee/Staff/SCNG)
Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks during a press conference about Tiger Woods’ car crash in Palos Verdes at the Lomita Sheriff’s station on Tuesday, February 23, 2021.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Carlos Gonzalez, the Sheriff’s deputy who was the first responder on the accident scene, speaks during a press conference about Tiger Woods’ car crash in Palos Verdes at the Lomita Sheriff’s station on Tuesday, February 23, 2021.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks during a press conference about Tiger Woods’ car crash in Palos Verdes at the Lomita Sheriff’s station on Tuesday, February 23, 2021.
(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
No other vehicles were involved in the crash and no other injuries were reported. The first person to arrive at the scene told sheriff’s officials Woods was unconscious inside the vehicle. The first sheriff’s deputy to respond found the 45-year-old golfing great awake and responsive, but suffering from severe leg injuries.
Woods was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for multiple fractures to his right leg and ankle. He was later transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for follow-up work. He announced March 16 that he had been released from the hospital and returned to his home in Florida.
“Happy to report that I am back home and continuing my recovery,” Woods wrote in a message on his Twitter page. “I am so grateful for the outpouring of support and encouragement that I have received over the past few weeks.
“Thank you to the incredible surgeons, doctors, nurses and staff at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. You have all taken such great care of me and I cannot thank you enough. I will be recovering at home and working on getting stronger every day.”
No further information about his medical recovery has been released, and it was unclear if or when Woods might be able to return to the golf course.
Woods lives in Florida but was in Southern California at the time of the crash after hosting the Genesis Invitational golf tournament at The Riviera Country Club.
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