Authorities Get Search Warrant For Black Box In Tiger Woods Crash

Authorities in California have executed a search warrant to retrieve black box data from Tiger Woods' car following a crash last week that left the golf star with serious leg injuries.

Woods, 45, was driving his SUV alone in Los Angeles when he got into a single-vehicle crash on Feb. 23. His car rolled over and, upon their arrival, first responders had to extract Woods out of the car through the car’s windshield. He then was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery due to injuries on his right leg that included numerous “open fractures,” according to ESPN.

Amidst his recovery, authorities have continued to investigate what led to the crash, which took place in a suburban area with a speed limit of 45 miles per hour but does have some steep, winding roads, according to the Associated Press.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department obtained a search warrant allowing them to collect info from the black box in Woods’ car, which would shed light on what the car was doing directly before the crash, USA TODAY reports. While the outlet noted that probable cause that a crime occurred is needed in order to obtain such a warrant, authorities suggested that it was par for the course and stated that the investigation into Woods’ crash isn’t necessarily a criminal one.

“We’re trying to determine if a crime was committed,” Sheriff’s Deputy John Schloegl told the outlet on Tuesday. “If somebody is involved in a traffic collision, we’ve got to reconstruct the traffic collision, if there was any reckless driving, if somebody was on their cell phone or something like that. We determine if there was a crime. If there was no crime, we close out the case, and it was a regular traffic collision.”

Authorities have also opted to forego pursuing a warrant to collect Woods’ blood, which could shed light on whether he was under the influence of any medication or substances at the time of the crash, according to USA TODAY Sports. Schloegl reportedly told the outlet that they had “no probable cause” to do so.

The warrant for the black box does not list any specific crimes, an unnamed source confirmed to TMZ. In regards to probable cause, various details of the scene, including the lack of skid marks in the road, were referenced, according to the outlet.

Following the crash, Woods told deputies at the scene that he did not remember driving and that he did not know how the crash happened, according to an affidavit obtained by USA TODAY. Woods reportedly told hospital staff the same thing when he was being treated following the collision.

Woods was treated first at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center before being transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the ESPN reports. The golf star had to have a rod inserted into his tibia, among other treatments, doctors told the outlet.

In a statement shared on Woods’ Twitter account Friday, he confirmed that the treatment was successful and that he is now in recovery.

“Tiger and his family want to thank you all for the wonderful support and messages they have received over the past few days,” the statement reads. “We will not have any further updates at this time. Thank you for your continued privacy.”