Montgomery County Sheriff’s OfficeThe Minnesota Vikings' star running back Adrian Peterson turned himself in to police on Saturday morning to be charged with reckless or negligent injury to a child in Texas following a grand jury indictment and spent less than half an hour in jail.
A mug shot of the 29-year-old former NFL Most Valuable Player was released by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office and obtained by E! News. Peterson, who appears to be smiling in the photo, was detained at 1:06 a.m. on a $15,000 bond in a jail and released within 29 minutes, jail records show.
"In the early morning hours on Saturday, September 13, 2014, Adrian Peterson turned himself in at the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Criminal Justice Complex and was booked in on a warrant that was issued against him for injury to a child," the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said in a statement to E! News. "Mr. Peterson met all the court order criteria on the warrant for his release. Mr. Peterson was released from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Jail shortly after being booked in."
Police had issued a warrant for the football player's arrest on Friday after a Texas grand jury indicted him on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child. He has been cooperative with authorities and their ongoing investigation, they said.
"The charged conduct involves using a switch to spank his son," Peterson's lawyer had said, adding that "Adrian is a loving father who used his judgment as a parent to discipline his son. He used the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced as a child growing up in east Texas." [A switch is a small, thin, flexible tree branch.]
The attorney added that Peterson "never intended to harm his son and deeply regrets the unintentional injury."
The Vikings said later on Friday that Peterson would not play in the team's game against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
According to Sports Illustrated, if Peterson is convicted of reckless injury to a child, he could be sentenced to prison for two to 10 years. If convicted of negligent injury to a child, the potential sentence would be 180 days to two years.
Peterson's indictment marks the second recent domestic violence case involving a player for the NFL, which began its 2014-2015 season earlier this month. Ray Rice, also a running back, was released by the Baltimore Ravens this week after a video showing him punching his then-fiancée Janay surfaced online. He had faced assault charges and they were dropped after his partner, who has since married him, declined to tesify.