New Orlando Sentinel Report On Woods Accident Investigation Reveals Stonewalling, Other Bizarre Details

The Orlando Sentinel continues to examine new public records in the Tiger Woods accident investigation, with several more revelations that speak to an investigation not bungled, but obstructed. Rene Stutzman reports that Elin Woods "tried to ride in the ambulance to the hospital with her husband, but the crew wouldn't let her, saying this was a case of domestic violence, the Florida Highway Patrol records show."

But the behavior of HealthCentral and state attorney Steve Foster raises the most-troubling questions:

Today's FHP records also reveal that the afternoon of the crash, FHP troopers tried to get medical records from the hospital, HealthCentral in Ocoee, that would have shown whether Woods had been drinking or was under the influence of drugs.

An emergency room nurse, however, said the records department was closed and troopers would have to come back the following Monday.

Troopers did, arriving about 7 a.m. Nov. 30, the first business day after the crash.

"The director of medical records at first stated their computer system was not working then she stated that they would not provide that information without a warrant on D-1 (Tiger Woods) regarding whether or not medical blood had been drawn," wrote FHP Cpl. Thomas DeWitt.

Two FHP captains then went to the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office and asked it to subpoena Woods' medical records, but Assistant State Attorney Steve Foster said there was insufficient evidence.

The following day FHP declared its investigation over and wrote Woods the ticket.

The home security system video stuff is borderline comical. You leave it up to a defense attorney to check the tapes? And amazingly, he just couldn't get it to work!

Woods' home has four security cameras, and his lawyer, Mark NeJame, told troopers that he would provide them with video from the system, but after having problems trying to decipher it, apparently never did.

The day FHP made the request, NeJame said he tried but could not figure out how to operate the system. Five hours later, a woman from his office called troopers, saying they still couldn't figure it out but would call the next day.

The FHP paperwork makes no further mention of the video.

According to DeWitt, the trooper who wrote the report, two of the cameras should have captured at least portions of Woods' drive and crash.