Cameron Sutton has turned himself in, ending a weekslong search for the former NFL defensive back who was wanted for a domestic violence warrant.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced the 29-year-old Sutton arrived at a jail in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday night, nearly a week after it said his attorney informed authorities that the former Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers standout would turn himself in.
“After weeks of evading law enforcement, this man has finally made the right choice to turn himself in,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said. “Domestic violence has no place in our community, and no one is above the law here in Hillsborough County. My thoughts are with this woman as she continues to heal from this man’s gruesome actions.”
Sutton’s initial arrest warrant charged him with a felony, but prosecutors said Monday 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.
Sutton's attorneys, Todd Foster and Jason Setchen, released a statement Monday stating they hoped to settle the matter as a family.
"Both Mr. Sutton and the mother of his children request privacy in this matter," the statement read in part, "as they view this as a family matter and wish to resolve it as a family."
The sheriff’s department responded to a call about domestic violence in progress involving Sutton and a female around 5 a.m. on March 7. Nearly two weeks ago, the sheriff’s office asked for help in finding Sutton.
Soon thereafter, Lions president Rod Wood said Sutton was at the team’s training facility just outside of Detroit.
“We learned about the warrant at the same time everybody else did on social media,” Wood told WJBK-TV Fox 2 last Monday. “We were able to speak to Cam because he was actually in our building. We found him. He was down with our strength staff. He kind of showed up unexpectedly to work out.”
The Lions released Sutton on March 21 after news of the warrant surfaced.
Detroit signed Sutton to a three-year, $33 million contract a year ago. He helped the franchise win a division title for the first time in three decades along with two playoff games in one postseason for the first time since 1957.
Sutton started in all 17 regular season games, making a career-high 65 tackles and one interception, and in each of Detroit’s three playoff games.
He started 31 games for the Steelers during the 2021 and ’22 seasons with five interceptions with 95 tackles. Pittsburgh drafted the former Tennessee star, who is from Jonesboro, Georgia, in the third round in 2017. He has nine interceptions in 101 games over his career.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.