Incident report reveals new details on Ian Schieffelin’s DUI arrest in Clemson
Clemson tight end Ian Schieffelin was stopped by police early Sunday morning after driving “rapidly” and swerving over a double yellow line outside Clemson’s campus.
Local police ultimately arrested Schieffelin on a charge of driving under the influence. They did not have Schieffelin take a breathalyzer test, which estimates a driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC). Not using a breathalyzer usually means police believe a driver is already showing clear signs of impairment.
That’s according to a City of Clemson Police Department incident report, obtained by The State via public records request on Monday, which sheds further light on Schieffelin’s Aug. 17 DUI arrest ahead of the 2025 season.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in a statement the team was aware of the situation and Schieffelin — a former Tigers basketball player who joined the football team as a TE in May — would miss the start of the season as a consequence.
There were no injuries and no other passengers in Schieffelin’s vehicle.
Clemson police report on Ian Schieffelin DUI arrest
According to a Clemson police incident report, an officer was patrolling Tiger Boulevard within the city limits of Clemson around 1:47 a.m. when he saw another car, driven by Schieffelin, “rapidly approaching my vehicle from the rear.”
Schieffelin’s speed was unclear, but the officer wrote he was driving about 40 mph and Schieffelin, in his grey Audi car, was “rapidly gaining on me.”
The cop wrote he then saw Schieffelin “swerve over the double yellow line” in a no passing zone area of the road. The cop merged into the median, allowing Schieffelin to pass him, and then initiated a “lawful traffic stop.”
After the officer turned on his blue lights, he wrote that Schieffelin complied and pulled over into the parking lot of Dockside, a Clemson student housing complex.
The officer identified Schieffelin through his driver’s license, “advised (Schieffelin) the reason for the stop” and arrested him for driving under the influence. The incident was recorded on body camera footage.
Schieffelin’s charge in the incident report was listed as “Driving under the influence without BA - 1st offense.” The “BA” in that charge refers to a blood alcohol content test, when police use a breathalyzer to determine a driver’s BAC.
According to South Carolina’s code of laws, a driver who is under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs “to the extent that (their) faculties to drive a motor vehicle are materially and appreciably impaired,” that driver can be arrested on a DUI charge regardless of their BAC or if they took a BAC test.
It’s unclear whether or not Schieffelin declined a breathalyzer test.
After being arrested around 1:47 a.m., Schieffelin spent the night in jail and was released on bond on Sunday morning at 9:10 a.m, according to Clemson police.
“Clemson Athletics has a clear policy by which we will abide, so Ian will miss some competition to start this season as a consequence,” Swinney said in a statement. “We’re obviously very disappointed by the situation, but we are very thankful no others were involved and no one was hurt.”
Clemson’s student-athlete handbook states that an athlete arrested for and/or charged with DUI must be “withheld” from at least 10% of their games in their next applicable season. For football, 10% of the regular season would be slightly over one game. Clemson opens the season against LSU on Aug. 30.
Schieffelin, 22, was an All-ACC basketball forward who decided to join the football team and play tight end during his last year of athletic eligibility (he had no basketball eligibility remaining).
Although he’s an intriguing talent at 6-7 and 260 — Clemson has toyed around with the idea of having Schieffelin on its field goal block team — he’s not considered a starter or high-impact player for the preseason No. 4 Tigers at this time.
Schieffelin said earlier this month his goal for the 2025 football season is to do “whatever I can do to help the team win, honestly. Whether it’s special teams, if I can figure out some way to help the team there. If it’s even giving out water to all the guys, I’ll do it. Whatever’s best for Clemson is why I’m here.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2025 at 12:43 PM.
