Cameron Sutton, the veteran cornerback wanted for weeks by police in Florida for his alleged involvement in a domestic violence case, turned himself in Sunday, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.
Police had been unable to locate Sutton since March 7, when an arrest warrant was issued for him. They had responded to a call early that morning at a house in Lutz, Florida, where Sutton allegedly battered a woman before fleeing the scene.
Sutton's attorney contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office last Monday to say he would turn himself in, only to do so six days later, officials said. He was booked at the Orient Road Jail in Tampa, Florida, at 8:24 p.m. local time Sunday.
"After weeks of evading law enforcement, this man has finally made the right choice to turn himself in," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. "Domestic violence has no place in our community, and no one is above the law here in Hillsborough County."
Sutton's initial arrest warrant charged him with a felony, but prosecutors said Monday that he was being formally charged with misdemeanor battery, which carries a maximum one-year jail sentence. Sutton was released from jail Monday on his own recognizance, the state attorney's office said.
"Both Mr. Sutton and the mother of his children request privacy in this matter, as they view this as a family matter and wish to resolve it as a family," Sutton's attorneys, Todd Foster and Jason Setchen, said in a statement released to multiple media outlets Monday.
Sutton, 29, joined the Detroit Lions as an unrestricted free agent in 2023 on a three-year, $33 million contract after spending his first six NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Lions released him March 21, the day after the team found out about the warrant for his arrest.
Speaking last week at the NFL's annual league meetings, team president Rod Wood told Fox 2 in Detroit that Sutton was in the workout facility when the Lions found out about the warrant and that a member of the team was able to talk with him and advise him to turn himself in.
"Suggested he get counsel and do the right thing to turn himself in," Wood told the television station. "After that, we met the rest of the day and the following morning to decide to release him."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.