Tiger Woods will lose his driver's license for five years after pleading no contest to reckless driving charges in Florida, closing a case that began with a rollover crash near his home in March. The 50-year-old golfer appeared before County Judge Darren Steele at the Martin County Courthouse in Stuart on Wednesday, Sept. 2, with his girlfriend Vanessa Trump at his side.
The March crash
Woods was arrested on March 27 after his SUV clipped the back of a pressure-washing trailer on a residential street on Jupiter Island and flipped onto its side. He climbed out through the passenger window, and no one was hurt. Police initially charged him with driving under the influence with property damage and with refusing to submit to a sobriety test. He was released from jail about eight hours later after posting a $1,150 bond.
The plea deal
As part of the agreement, prosecutors reduced the DUI charge to willful and wanton reckless driving, a second offense, and turned the refusal charge into a careless driving citation. Woods entered a plea of no contest, and the judge found him guilty on the reduced counts. The court ordered a five-year license suspension on each charge, to run at the same time, plus about $1,500 in fines and costs.
Judge Steele warned Woods that the suspension is absolute. "There are no exceptions," he told the golfer in court. "If you were to drive for any reason at all, you would go immediately back to jail."
What it means for Woods
Woods has not said whether the case will change his playing schedule. The suspension does not stop him from competing, since he does not need to drive himself to tournaments. The plea closes a legal chapter that began with body-camera footage showing Woods performing field sobriety tests and telling officers he had looked down at his phone just before the crash.