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 Peterson was held on a $15,000 bond early on Saturday morning and
was released within about 30 minutes, jail records showed. He was
indicted by a grand jury in the county north of Houston, and police
issued a warrant for his arrest on Friday.
Peterson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, said in a statement that the
charge resulted from the footballer "using a switch to spank his
son."
The charges come on the heels of the NFL indefinitely suspending
Baltimore Ravens three-time Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice for
domestic violence.
Hardin said Peterson's actions mirrored treatment he experienced
growing up, adding that the running back had testified before a
grand jury for "several hours" and was fully cooperating with
authorities.
"Adrian is a loving father who used his judgment as a parent to
discipline his son," Hardin said. "Adrian never intended to harm his
son and deeply regrets the unintentional injury."
The National Football League's Vikings said in a statement they
would drop Peterson from the team's roster for Sunday's game against
the New England Patriots as the team looks into the matter.
A local CBS broadcaster in Houston cited law enforcement sources in
reporting that Peterson told police he used a tree branch in a
"whooping" on his 4-year-old son in Spring, Texas, in May as
punishment for pushing another one of the athlete's children.
"The Vikings are in the process of gathering information regarding
the legal situation involving Adrian Peterson," the team said in a
statement.
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Peterson, 29, a six-time Pro Bowl running back and a former NFL Most
Valuable Player, is in his eighth season in the league, all with the
Vikings. He has rushed for 10,190 yards and scored 91 touchdowns, 86
on the ground, in his career.
In 2012, Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards, the second-most in a
single season in NFL history, trailing only Eric Dickerson's 2,105
in 1984 with the Los Angeles Rams.
A two-year-old boy fathered by Peterson died in October 2013 after
being allegedly assaulted by the mother's boyfriend in Sioux Falls,
South Dakota. The man, Joseph R. Patterson, was indicted on
second-degree murder charges.
Peterson told reporters at that time he had learned about the child
only two months before and been preparing to provide financial
assistance to him and his mother.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas, Eric M. Johnson in
Seattle; Additional reporting by Steve Ginsburg in Washington, Gene
Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and
Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Eric Beech, John
Stonestreet and Pravin Char)
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