Tiger Woods Faces DUI Charge Under New Florida Law as Affidavit Expected Today

JUPITER ISLAND — The Martin County Sheriff's Office is expected to release the arrest affidavit and body camera footage Tuesday in the DUI case against Tiger Woods, documents that could determine whether prosecutors pursue a charge that a recent change to Florida law made newly prosecutable — even without a urine test result.

Woods, 47 According to initial reports,, was arrested Friday afternoon after his Range Rover clipped a pressure washing truck on South Beach Road and rolled onto its side. He crawled out the passenger door and was not seriously injured. He posted $1,150 bail and was released from the Martin County Jail roughly eight hours after his arrest.

He is charged with driving under the influence, property damage, and refusal to submit to a lawful test.

Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek told reporters Friday that Woods passed a breathalyzer test but refused to provide a urine sample at the jail — a pivotal decision that now carries its own criminal weight.

"We will never get definitive results about what he was impaired on at the time of the crash," Budensiek said.

That statement reflects both the evidentiary challenge facing prosecutors and a quiet but significant shift in Florida law. Until last year, refusing a breath, blood or urine test was only prosecutable if a driver had previously refused during a prior incident — a loophole that defense attorneys say gave savvy suspects a reason to decline testing. The Legislature closed that loophole, making first-offense refusal a misdemeanor.

"Now, it doesn't matter if you refused previously or not," said David Hill, an Orlando defense attorney who is not involved in Woods' case but reviewed the applicable statute.

The change means Woods faces a standalone refusal charge in addition to the DUI itself — and prosecutors can still build their impairment case through other means.

Hill said deputy testimony describing Woods as lethargic with red or bloodshot eyes, the expected body camera footage, and any dashcam video from patrol units could collectively substitute for lab results in front of a jury. Deputies performed roadside sobriety tests at the scene, and the sheriff publicly stated Woods showed "signs of impairment."

But the absence of toxicology results cuts both ways.

"It's kind of our bread and butter if there's nothing scientific, no breath results or urine results to look at," Hill said of the defense opportunity.

Woods' prior record further limits his options. In 2017, he was found asleep behind the wheel in Palm Beach County with a damaged vehicle and blamed a bad mix of prescription painkillers. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving. That prior makes a diversion program or a plea to reckless driving — standard off-ramps for first-time DUI offenders in Florida — far less likely here.

"If the person has priors or the case is aggravated for some reason, the prosecutor might be pushing for jail," Hill said.

Neighbor Sam Saporito, who lives near the crash site on South Beach Road, said aggressive driving on the narrow two-lane road is a persistent problem.

"You're not supposed to pass on that road and the speed limit is 30 mph," Saporito said. "People are just impatient."

Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg of Excel Sports, did not respond to a text message or phone call seeking comment Monday. Neither Woods' camp nor the PGA Tour — on whose board Woods serves as chairman of the competition restructuring committee — had issued a public statement as of Monday evening According to initial reports,.

The release of the affidavit and body camera video is expected to answer key outstanding questions: the specific speed deputies calculated or estimated, the precise language of Woods' roadside statements, and the documented results of his field sobriety tests.

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