Adrian Peterson is declaring his innocence after a Sunday arrest saw him charged with felony domestic violence.
The free agent running back was set to return to Houston from Los Angeles International Airport for a Super Bowl party, but things went haywire after the plane had to turn back shortly after pulling out of the gate so authorities could remove Peterson from the aircraft.
Officers responded “due to a verbal and physical altercation between a male suspect and a female victim,” the LAX Police Division said in a statement. The 36-year-old Peterson was taken into custody and was later booked at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Pacific Division for alleged corporal injury of a spouse. His bail was set at $50,000, online arrest records showed.
Peterson admits he and his wife got into an argument but he is also denying police had the grounds to make an arrest.
“I was literally mind-blown that they took me to jail,” Peterson told Fox 26’s Mark Berman. “They were like, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Peterson, but because she had a scratch on her finger, [in] the state of California, we have to take you in.’ I sit there and watch the plane pull back and take off and I’m just like, ‘Wow! I cannot believe this is happening right now. I’m going to jail, and I literally didn’t do anything.’”
“It’s blown out of proportion,” Peterson continued. “Me and the wife got into an argument on the plane. That was pretty much the gist of it. I ended up grabbing her hand and taking her ring off her finger. She didn’t press any charges.”
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“The state of California pressed charges because there was a scratch on her hand. Literally that’s why I went to jail, because the ring left a scratch on her finger. We just had a disagreement. I know the headlines,” Peterson said. “Domestic violence. You’d think I beat her up or something. It was nothing like that.”
Peterson, a 15-year veteran of the NFL, was already on thin ice after he was charged with felony child abuse back in 2014.
Peterson is fifth in league history in rushing yards and the only non-quarterback to win NFL MVP since LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006. The 2012 league MVP, Peterson split the 2021 season with the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks, playing in four games and totaling 98 yards and two touchdowns.
