Bryan Gillis, the Louisville Metro Police detective who arrested Scottie Scheffler ahead of the second round of the PGA Championship, was previously suspended for performing “donuts” with an “intoxicated civilian” in his police vehicle in a business parking lot. He’s also been reprimanded for missing court dates, according to a report by the Courier Journal.
Additionally, Gillis has been involved in four “at fault” accidents while operating Louisville Police vehicles. Two of those instances resulted in Gillis being ordered to attend driver’s training.
Under Kentucky’s open records law, The Courier Journal obtained Gillis’ LMPD personnel file, hours after Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel announced that Gillis had not been suspended but instead received “counsel” over his failure to turn on his body camera during the arrest of the world No. 1 golfer.
The 17-year LMPD veteran was directing traffic near Gate 1 of the Valhalla Golf Club early on Friday morning following the fatal accident of a tournament volunteer involving a shuttle bus.
According to the police report, Scheffler was driving eastbound in a marked PGA player vehicle toward Gate 1 when he briefly pulled into a westbound lane to take a lefthand turn on to the golf club’s driveway.
Gillis, who was directing traffic in the middle of the westbound lane, claims he attempted to stop Scheffler who “refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground. Detective Gillis suffered pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee.”
The videos released yesterday do not match the account of Gillis.
Detective Bryan Gillis’ past discipline record
In September 2013, Gillis was suspended for five days by then-LMPD Chief Steve Conrad for driving an “intoxicated civilian” in his vehicle while doing “donuts.”
“You violated Standard Operating Procedure 5.1.3 Conduct Unbecoming when you drove an intoxicated civilian in your police vehicle while on duty in a “Code 3” fashion in a non-emergency situation and proceeded to doing “donuts” in a business parking lot,” Conrad wrote. “Any further violations of this nature will warrant severe discipline.”
Additionally, Gillis has been suspended at least three times for missing court appearances. The Courier Journal reported that Gillis’ file includes a letter of reprimand for missing court.
Further, Gillis has been involved in four “at fault” accidents while operating police department vehicles.
His most recent accident occurred in May 2021. He was reportedly given an oral reprimand for that accident.
In 2008 and 2014, Gillis was ordered to take driver’s training over accidents.
Also in 2021, Gillis was reprimanded for “pursuing a vehicle that did not commit a violent felony or (was) wanted on a warrant.” He failed to notify MetroSafe before initiating pursuit.
Gillis has received several letters of commendation for his work. For instance, in November 2021, Gillis was part of a group of officers commended by then-Chief Erika Shields for writing out 108 tickets in just a four-hour span, or 27 citations per hour. Gillis and the other officers were praised in the letter for their “strong work ethic, diligence, and tenaciousness.”
