Update: The Los Angeles County District Attorney declined to charge Adrian Peterson following his arrest over an alleged domestic violence incident. Read story here. Original story below.
NFL running back Adrian Peterson was arrested for domestic violence at at Los Angeles International Airport after an alleged altercation involving his wife broke out during a flight, forcing the plane to return to the terminal.
“Law enforcement sources tell us the ex-Vikings running back was arrested and booked for felony domestic violence Sunday at LAX — this after airport police got a call at about 8:30 AM over a disturbance on an aircraft leaving LAX and attempting to take off en route to Houston,” TMZ reported. “We’re told the plane actually had to turn around and link up with the gate again after an apparent verbal and physical altercation between a man and woman.”
The report says that the FBI was notified and that Peterson was taken into custody as his wife, Ashley Brown, was “seen to have sustained a small mark from whatever happened.”
ABC 7 reported:
Peterson, 36, 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.
The LAX Police Division said in a statement that officers responded to the morning flight, which was going to Houston, “due to a verbal and physical altercation between a male suspect and a female victim.”
“The passengers along with the female victim were able to continue with their flight plans,” according to the airport police news release.
A spokesperson for Peterson and his wife released the following statement on the incident:
Earlier today, Adrian and his wife Ashley had a verbal argument on a flight, and he was removed from the plane. This is a private misunderstanding between husband and wife and we anticipate it will all be resolved shortly.
Adrian Peterson pleaded no contest in 2014 to a reduced charge of “misdemeanor reckless assault as part of plea deal with prosecutors to resolve his felony child abuse case” stemming from an incident where he beat his son with a stick so hard that it caused bodily injury.
A report from 2014 stated:
Peterson’s son had pushed another one of Peterson’s children off of a motorbike video game. As punishment, Peterson grabbed a tree branch – which he consistently referred to as a “switch” – removed the leaves and struck the child repeatedly.
The beating allegedly resulted in numerous injuries to the child, including cuts and bruises to the child’s back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum, along with defensive wounds to the child’s hands. Peterson then texted the boy’s mother, saying that one wound in particular would make her “mad at me about his leg. I got kinda good wit the tail end of the switch.”
Peterson also allegedly said via text message to the child’s mother that he “felt bad after the fact when I notice the switch was wrapping around hitting I (sic) thigh” and also acknowledged the injury to the child’s scrotum in a text message, saying, “Got him in nuts once I noticed. But I felt so bad, n I’m all tearing that butt up when needed! I start putting them in timeout. N save the whooping for needed memories!”
In further text messages, Peterson allegedly said, “Never do I go overboard! But all my kids will know, hey daddy has the biggie heart but don’t play no games when it comes to acting right.”
According to police reports, the child, however, had a slightly different story, telling authorities that “Daddy Peterson hit me on my face.” The child also expressed worry that Peterson would punch him in the face if the child reported the incident to authorities. He also said that he had been hit by a belt and that “there are a lot of belts in Daddy’s closet.” He added that Peterson put leaves in his mouth when he was being hit with the switch while his pants were down. The child told his mother that Peterson “likes belts and switches” and “has a whooping room.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.
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