What to know about Tiger Woods' rollover crash in Florida

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What to know about Tiger Woods' rollover crash in Florida

2026-03-31 04:44 Last Updated At：04:50

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tiger Woods’ refusal to take a urine test following his recent rollover crash can be prosecuted under a change to Florida law last year, and prosecutors can build a DUI case against him even without lab results by utilizing deputy testimony, and body camera and dashcam video, according to a legal expert.

The golfer was traveling at “high speeds” on a beachside, residential road in Jupiter Island on Friday when his Land Rover clipped a truck and rolled onto its side, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, noting that Woods showed “signs of impairment."

Investigators believe Woods, who wasn't injured, had taken some kind of medication or drug and described him as lethargic. He agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. He was arrested and released on bail eight hours later.

Woods' agent at Excel Sports, Mark Steinberg, didn't immediately respond to a Monday text message or phone call seeking comment. No one from Woods’ camp or the PGA Tour -- he is on the board and is chairman of the committee reshaping the competition model -- has commented since his arrest.

Here's what to know about the case:

Woods, who has been involved in other crashes over the years, is charged with driving under the influence, property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test.

Under the change to Florida law, refusing a law enforcement officer's request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense. Refusal was previously only prosecuted if a driver had refused to take a test during a prior incident — which incentivized people facing DUI charges to refuse the test.

“Now, it doesn't matter if you refused previously or not,” said David Hill, an Orlando defense attorney who isn't involved in Woods' case.

Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek told reporters that Woods was cooperative when he talked to investigators after the accident but that he chose his words carefully.

“And when it came for the urine tests at the jail, he stopped that,” Budensiek said.

Woods had a right to refuse the test, but as a result, he was charged under the new Florida statute, the sheriff said.

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

Still, prosecutors can draw on other evidence to build their case even if they don't have any lab results, which could have determined which drugs, if any, he had in his system, Hill said.

Deputies performed roadside tests on Woods that seemed to show he was impaired, the sheriff said. Any bodycam video or testimony from the deputies indicating that the golfer had red or bloodshot eyes, displayed slurred speech or smelled like he had been using drugs or alcohol could bolster prosecutors' cases, according to Hill.

That said, the lack of lab results presents an opportunity for Woods' attorneys.

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

In Florida, Woods would have had a good chance of getting his case dismissed if he hadn't clipped the other vehicle or if it had been his first offense. First-timers who aren't involved in an accident are often allowed to go through a diversion program involving education and community service that results in the charges being dismissed. Prosecutors also regularly allow first-time DUI offenders to plead to the lesser charge of reckless driving, Hill said.

But Woods was arrested in 2017 for a DUI. At the time, Woods said he had taken a bad mix of painkillers when authorities found him asleep behind the wheel of his car, the engine still running and its driver’s side damaged. Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving.

“If the person has priors or the case is aggravated for some reason, the prosecutor might be pushing for jail. And those are cases that generally go to trial,” Hill said.

This story was updated to correct the spelling of John Budensiek's name.

Doug Ferguson in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report. Follow Mike Schneider on Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

Spain closes off its airspace to US planes involved in the Iran war

MADRID (AP) — Spain closed its airspace to U.S. planes involved in the Iran war, officials said Monday, in another step by Europe’s loudest critic of U.S. and Israeli military actions in the monthlong conflict.

The country earlier said that the U.S. couldn't use jointly operated military bases in the war, which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has described as illegal, reckless and unjust. Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that the same logic applied to the use of Spanish airspace.

“This was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran,” Robles told reporters, describing the conflict as “profoundly illegal and profoundly unjust.”

Sánchez has called on the U.S., Israel and Iran to end the war.

“You cannot respond to one illegality with another, because that’s how humanity’s great disasters begin," he said earlier this month.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Spain's leaders are “bragging" about cutting off its airspace, even as Washington has pledged to defend the NATO member. He said that the trans-Atlantic military alliance is useful for the U.S., because it “allows us to station troops and aircraft and weapons in parts of the world that we wouldn’t normally have bases, and that includes in much of Europe.”

“But if NATO is just about us defending Europe if they’re attacked, but then denying us basing rights when we need them, that’s not a very good arrangement,” Rubio told Al Jazeera on Monday. “That’s a hard one to stay engaged in and say this is good for the United States. So all of that is going to have to be reexamined.”

After Sánchez's government denied the U.S. use of the Rota and Morón military bases in southern Spain, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut trade with Madrid.

Washington made trade threats last year, too, when Sánchez said that his government wouldn't increase its defense spending in accordance with a deal agreed to by other NATO members following Trump's pressure.

At the time, Sánchez's government said that Spain could meet its military commitments by spending 2.1% of gross domestic product on defense, instead of the 5% the rest of the 32-nation military alliance agreed upon.

Sánchez also has been among the most vocal critics of Israel's actions during the war in Gaza, which has invited criticism from Israel's government on several occasions.

Spain's new decision against a NATO ally is rare, though not unprecedented. NATO didn't comment, referring questions to national authorities.

"NATO allies operate with a presumption of cooperation, but of course they retain sovereignty,'' said Daniel Baer, director of the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

In an incident that strained trans-Atlantic ties, France and Italy blocked the U.S. military from using their airspace for an operation targeting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in 1986.

In 2003, NATO member Turkey refused to allow American troops to use its territory to invade Iraq, though it did allow overflights. France and Germany firmly opposed that war, but allowed U.S. and British fighter jets to fly over their airspace.

France’s then foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, despite a famed U.N. speech against the Bush administration’s plans to invade, told the French parliament at the time that “there are practices between allies that exist that we must respect, including overflight rights.”

Spain's decision reflects broader concerns among traditional U.S. partners since Trump returned to office.

“The relationship with the U.S. was already strained,” Baer said. “Allies can generally be counted on, but they can’t be taken for granted.”

Still, he's doubtful that other European countries would follow Spain's example.

"Most Europeans are focused on keeping some measure of U.S. cooperation in supporting Ukraine, so I think it’s less likely that others join, even as they voice concerns about a lack of clarity around U.S. strategic objectives in Iran,'' he said.

Angela Charlton contributed to this report from Paris.