The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will not charge free-agent running back Adrian Peterson with a felony in connection to his arrest at Los Angeles International Airport, reports say. Peterson was arrested at the airport on Sunday on a domestic violence charge after he and his wife got into a heated argument that morning.
Peterson claims that while on their flight to Houston, he and his wife got into an argument and while trying to pull the wedding ring off of her finger he left 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: Domestic violence. You’d think I beat her up or something. It was nothing like that,” Peterson told Mark Berman of Fox 26, according to Bleacher Report.
On Tuesday, his wife, Ashley Peterson, posted a statement to her Instagram account saying her husband did not become physically violent with her.
She did not press charges and Peterson was released on a $50,000 bond the same day. He claims the the state of California pressed charges only because of the scratch on her hand.
Here’s more from ESPN:
Ashley Peterson, who continued on their flight to Houston after her husband was arrested, did not press charges. Adrian Peterson said he was arrested “because the ring left a scratch on her finger.”
“We just had a disagreement. I know the headlines, domestic violence. You’d think I beat her up or something,” Peterson said. “It was nothing like that.”
Ashley Peterson defended her husband Tuesday via an Instagram post, writing: “On Sunday, Adrian and I had a verbal argument. Unfortunately it was on an airplane. At no point did Adrian hit or strike me. This is a private matter between my husband and myself. We ask that everyone respect our privacy so we can focus on what matters most: our children.”
Adrian Peterson was charged with felony child abuse in 2014 for using a switch to spank his then-4-year-old son, which resulted in cuts and bruises all over the boy’s body. Peterson eventually pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of misdemeanor reckless assault. In addition to a two-year probation period, he was fined $4,000 and performed 80 hours of community service. The NFL suspended him for one year.
The case will now be referred to the Los Angeles City Attorney who could still charge him with misdemeanor domestic violence, according to TMZ Sports sources.