Police execute search warrant on Tiger Woods’ black box recovered from wreck

Police have reportedly taken a major step forward in their criminal investigation into Tiger Woods’ car roll-over after a revealing find.

Golf superstar Tiger Woods had to be extricated from his car with the jaws of life and rushed to hospital with major injuries after a horror rollover in Los Angele, Picture: nbcnews

Police have combed through the “black box” of Tiger Woods’ rolled over car after executing a search warrant on the data recorder.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department retrieved the data on Tuesday night (AEDT) with the device able to show investigators the speed of the vehicle before the collision and whether its brakes were applied, according to USA Today.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters last week there was no indication Woods was impaired by alcohol or any other substances at the time of the incident, which is why no tests were taken and why no criminal charges were laid.

However, the investigation into possible criminal action remains ongoing. Data from the device has already been downloaded according to reports, and also has the potential to show information on steering before impact.

“We’re trying to determine if a crime was committed,” Sheriff’s Deputy John Schloegl told the news outlet.

Tiger Woods is not facing charges of reckless driving following the car crash. Getty.

“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. If there was no crime, we close out the case, and it was a regular traffic collision.”

The 45-year-old links legend was driving a 2021 Genesis GV80 alone when he veered across the median on Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes, went off the road and struck a tree — causing the car to roll over.

The injuries sustained in the incident have been described as “horrific” by people close to the golf icon, including a shattered ankle and two leg fractures.

Woods over the weekend had a second round of surgery, described as a success by his surgical team, according to a statement released by Tiger Woods’ team on social media.

The ongoing police investigation comes after claims Woods appeared to not be paying attention in the moments before his devastating crash — and may have fallen asleep at the wheel of the luxury SUV he was driving, according to a report citing forensic car accident experts.

Woods broke several bones in his lower right leg, which indicates he was applying the brake at the time of impact, experts told USA Today, adding that the evidence indicates he braked late into the collision sequence.

“To me, this is like a classic case of falling asleep behind the wheel, because the road curves and his vehicle goes straight,” Jonathan Cherney, a consultant who serves as an expert witness in court cases, told the news outlet.

The former police detective examined the crash site in person.

“It’s a drift off the road, almost like he was either unconscious, suffering from a medical episode or fell asleep and didn’t wake up until he was off the road and that’s where the brake application came in,” Cherney told USA Today.

A tow truck recovers the vehicle driven by golfer Tiger Woods in Rancho Palos Verdes. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has said there were no skid marks to indicate braking — but the vehicle had anti-lock brakes, so even if Woods slammed on the brakes, “you wouldn’t necessarily see tire marks,” Felix Lee, an accident reconstruction expert, told the outlet.

Lee said a key clue is how the SUV did not change direction entering the curve.

“My feeling is that speed wasn’t that much of an issue. It was just some kind of inattention that caused the kerb strike,” said Lee, who is part of the Expert Institute, a network that provides expert witnesses in court cases.

Cherney also said he didn’t see evidence of “any steering input” that would show the golfer tried to avoid the accident, The New York Post reported.

Rami Hashish, principal at the National Biomechanics Institute, which investigates accidents, told USA Today that this suggests a “very delayed response.”

“It was suggesting he wasn’t paying attention at all,” said the expert, adding that he suspects the damage would have been much greater if Woods had been travelling at an excessive speed.

A Los Angeles County sheriffs department officer carries a broken "Welcome to Rolling Hills Estates" sign destroyed from the vehicle driven by golfer Tiger Woods. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)

In 2017, police found Woods asleep at the wheel in Florida. A toxicology report said he had Vicodin, Dilaudid, Xanax, Ambien — which is used to treat sleep problems — and THC in his system at the time.