Body Camera Shows Tiger Woods Admitting Phone Distraction Caused Jupiter Island Crash

The body camera footage released by the Martin County Sheriff's Office leaves little ambiguity about what Tiger Woods was doing in the moments before his Land Rover rolled onto its driver's side on Jupiter Island. Kneeling on a lawn after crawling free of the wreck, Woods told deputies: "I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden — boom." He was also changing the radio station at the moment of impact.

The crash occurred around 2 p.m. on March 27 at 281 South Beach Road, roughly four miles from Woods' home. The 50-year-old 15-time major champion was driving at high speed on the narrow two-lane road when he attempted to pass a pressure-cleaning truck pulling a trailer. His SUV clipped the back of the trailer, rolled onto its driver's side, and slid to a stop. Woods crawled out through the passenger door; neither he nor the truck driver was injured.

Martin County Sheriff's Deputy Tatiana Levenar administered field sobriety tests and delivered her finding directly: "I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you're under an unknown substance, so at this time you're under arrest for DUI." A visibly stunned Woods replied: "I'm being arrested?" Deputies searched his pockets after handcuffing him and found two white pills. Woods identified them: "That's a Norco," referring to the acetaminophen-and-hydrocodone painkiller. The arrest affidavit noted bloodshot and glassy eyes, extremely dilated pupils, lethargy, and profuse sweating. Deputies also observed Woods wearing a compression sock over his right knee and "limping and stumbling to the right," prompting him to disclose seven back surgeries and more than 20 operations on his right leg.

A Breathalyzer at the Martin County Jail registered 0.000 on both samples. Woods told deputies he consumed no alcohol but acknowledged taking "a few" prescription medications earlier that day. He refused a urine test, which now constitutes a misdemeanor under a recent change to Florida law, even for a first offense. He was charged with two misdemeanors: DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test. After the state-mandated minimum eight-hour hold, Woods posted $1,150 bail and was released around 11 p.m.

The footage also captured Woods telling a deputy he had been "just talking to the president." President Donald Trump later confirmed to the New York Post that he had spoken with Woods after the incident, saying Woods was "doing good" but "lives a life of pain."

Woods entered a written not guilty plea Tuesday and demanded a jury trial, waiving his arraignment appearance. Attorney Douglas Duncan will represent him at the next scheduled court date, May 5 before Judge Darren Steele. A judge also granted Woods permission to receive medical treatment abroad.

Criminal defense attorney Joshua Deckard, speaking with WPTV, identified the central obstacle for prosecutors: "The real question here would be, can the state of Florida prove that he was under the influence of one of these medications to the extent that his normal daily activities were impaired?" Without a urine test result, Deckard argued, that burden becomes considerably harder to meet.

Woods issued a statement Tuesday night saying he is "stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health." Augusta National confirmed he will not compete in the Masters Tournament, which begins April 9. The crash came just three days after Woods competed in the TGL indoor golf league championship with his Jupiter Links GC team, his first competitive appearance since suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon in March 2025 and undergoing back surgery in October 2025. It marks his second DUI arrest and fourth high-profile vehicle crash, following his 2017 Jupiter arrest, in which toxicology tests found five drugs in his system, and the February 2021 Los Angeles County rollover that left him with compound fractures of the tibia and fibula.