Tiger Woods must give police permission to release an investigative report, which details what happened during his Feb. 23 car crash in Southern California, the Los Angeles County sheriff said Wednesday. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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April 1 (UPI) -- Detectives have determined the cause of Tiger Woods' Feb. 23 car crash, but will not release the information until the golfer grants permission, the Los Angeles County Sheriff said.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva addressed Woods' single-car crash and the related investigation when he spoke to reporters Wednesday during a social media event.
"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, so we're going to ask them if they'll waive the privacy. Then we'll be able to do a full release on all the information regarding the accident."
Woods, 45, sustained serious injuries when in the rollover crash in his SUV Feb. 23 near the Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes suburbs of Los Angeles.
He had multiple "open fractures" in his lower right leg and had a rod inserted into his tibia. He also had screws and pins put in his foot and ankle. Woods spent time at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was hospitalized for three weeks and released in mid-March.
Police immediately launched an investigation into the crash and executed a search warrant for the "black box" recorder from Woods' vehicle. Officers said the recorded data could help them determined what happened in the crash.
"We have contents of the black box," Villanueva said Wednesday. "Everything is completed, signed, sealed and delivered, but we can't release it without the permission of the people involved in the collision."
Police had to determine there was probable cause that a crime was committed to obtain the warrant for the black box, but Villanueva said Wednesday that investigators still consider Woods' crash to be an "accident."
"You can have an accident or a deliberate act," Villanueva said. "It's an accident. We are reaching out to Tiger Woods to be able to release the report itself.
"Nothing has changed from what we know and what we learned throughout the course of the investigation. Everything we did turned out to be accurate."
Woods has not made public comments about the crash, his recovery or the investigation since March 16.