Sheriff’s department executes search warrant for ‘black box’ in Tiger’s SUV

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department has executed a search warrant to obtain the “black box” from the SUV that Tiger Woods was driving when he was involved in a single-car crash last week, according to multiple outlets.

The data retrieved from the device can indicate a vehicle’s speed, steering angle, acceleration and braking activity. Probable cause that a crime was committed, even a misdemeanor, is needed to issue a warrant. Sheriff’s Deputy John Schloegl told USA Today Sports that the matter was due diligence.

“We’re trying to determine if a crime was committed,” Schloegl said. “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.”

Schloegl added that there was “no probable cause” for a warrant to obtain Woods’ blood, in order to determine if he was under the influence of alcohol, drugs or prescription medication at the time of the incident.

Woods was involved in a single-car crash outside of Los Angeles on Feb. 23. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the following day that it was “purely an accident” and that his department would not file any charges against Woods.

“The Sheriff spoke about the information known at that time, and said it appeared to be a traffic accident,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement to USA Today Sports on Tuesday. “However, the traffic collision investigation is (on)going and traffic investigators have not made any conclusions as to the cause of the collision.”

Woods is currently recovering at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for continued care and recovery after surgery to repair damage to his right leg and ankle.