Tiger Woods Update: Black Box From Car Crash Recovered By LA Sheriff's Department

The black box from the car that Tiger Woods crashed last week is being recovered by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. The golfer was involved in a single-car crash while driving a Genesis SUV on Feb. 23 that forced him to undergo emergency surgery on his leg.

USA Today reported Tuesday that the sheriff’s department got a warrant to retrieve the black box, which might be able to show how fast the car was moving and if Woods slammed on the brakes. Law enforcement must establish that there is probable cause that a crime was committed in order to be granted such a warrant, according to USA Today, though Sheriff’s Deputy John Schloegl said the department was simply doing its due diligence, and he didn’t consider it a criminal investigation.

“We’re trying to determine if a crime was committed,” Schloegl told USA Today Sports 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.”

The sheriff’s department told CNN it executed the search warrant, but it had no other information regarding the data from the black box.

Woods was believed to have been driving at a high rate of speed when he drove over a median and ended up hitting a tree, according to authorities, who believe the crash was an accident. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said there were no skid marks or other indications of braking and that no charges would be filed against Woods.

Woods is at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he is recovering from surgery. The 45-year-old had a rod inserted into his right leg after suffering open fractures affecting his tibia and fibula bones.