“Let me go back to the simplicity of this for the sheriff’s office,” said Martin County sheriff John Budensiek when asked if Tiger Woods would get preferential treatment.

“We know we arrested a high profile figure. I’m not trying to dramatise, but it doesn’t matter who you are. If you break the law, we’re going to follow the law. That’s a really easy path to take.

“Now, as far as being in the jail, we’re going to make sure he is safe. We’re not going to put him in general population. He’s not going to be with other inmates that could hurt him or try to capitalise on what he did. He’ll pay the price, but he’s not going to pay the price by getting punished in jail.”

Tiger Woods has avoided felony charges, with Martin County sheriff John Budensiek confirming the misdemeanour charges he faces.

“He’s been he’s been charged with DUI, with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test,” he said.

 Asked if Tiger Woods will be subject to a follow-up test after refusing to give a urine sample, Martin County sheriff John Budensiek said: The answer is no. He has a right to refuse that test.

“There is a Florida statute which he will be charged with for refusing to take that test, but we will never get definitive results as to what he was impaired on at the time of the crash.”

Here’s our full report of tonight’s big news:

Tiger Woods was involved in a rollover car crash in Florida on Friday afternoon and has subsequently been arrested and charged with a DUI, police have confirmed.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said the incident took place on Jupiter Island, in the same town where Woods lives, just after 2pm local time.

A photograph has been shared of the scene which shows a vehicle laying on its driver’s side. Authorities say it was a two-car collision, with Woods’ Land Rover clipping a pressure-washer vehicle at speed and flipping over.

Authorities were unable to provide an exact speed of Tiger Woods’ car when he crashed but gave an indication that it was much higher than the 30mph speed limit.

“If the question is ‘can I give you a general idea of how fast,’ the answer is I can’t but I can tell you this and when I show you photos, they kind of speak for themselves,” Martin County sheriff John Budensiek said.

“ You can see where he clipped the back of the trailer. You can see where he rolled and then as he decelerates sliding down on the driver’s door of the vehicle. You can see that he slid for a pretty decent space before he came to the stop.”

“On scene we had DRE experts evaluating him and they believe from on scene that he was not impaired on alcohol,” Martin County sheriff John Budensiek said. “They believe he was some type of medication or drug.

“He co-operated with the breathalyzer and the urine test he wanted no part of.”

It was confirmed no medications were found in Tiger Woods’ car.

Martin County sheriff John Budensiek confirmed that neither Tiger Woods, who was the only one in his car, nor the driver of the pressure washer vehicle were injured in the crash.

On Woods, Budensiek said:  “He was not injured. Again, he was lethargic on scene, but that we believe was because of what he was intoxicated on.”

Budensiek also expressed his relief that no passers-by were hurt in the incident, saying: “Thankfully no (nobody was injured). This is a small two-lane road. Had somebody been moving in the opposite direction, we would not be having a conversation saying there were no injuries. This could have been a lot worse.”

Martin County sheriff John Budensiek confirmed that Tiger Woods was “co-operative” but was “not trying to incriminate himself” by refusing to give a urine sample.

He highlighted Florida state statute requires them to keep people incarcerated for at least up to eight hours post to DUI arrest, and that Woods will be released assuming he makes bond after that period.