On Wednesday morning, the Sheriff's Office is Hillsborough County (Florida) issued an arrest warrant for Detroit Lions cornerback Cameron Sutton. According to the statement, he is wanted for "Aggravated Battery-Domestic Violence" and "He may be driving a Jeep Grand Wagoneer with a plate number of FL-AZ33QB."
Update, 1:15 p.m. ET: The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has updated the charge against Sutton to Domestic Battery by Strangulation.
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press confirmed, via a public information officer with Hillsborough County, the warrant is indeed for the Lions' cornerback. Justin Rogers of the Detroit News added the warrant is related to an incident on March 7, and multiple failed attempts to contact Sutton prompted the release of the warrant for his arrest.
Hillsborough County police were contacted at 4:30 a.m. on March 7 regarding a domestic incident involving Cam Sutton. Victims name is still being withheld. They've made multiple attempts to contact Sutton, haven't been able to, so they released the warrant on social media today.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) March 20, 2024
Kyle Meinke of MLive also spoke to police in Florida, and added another layer of information.
Just spoke with the police. This is the Lions' Cam Sutton. He's suspected of battering a woman at 4:52 a.m. on March 7. He fled the scene by the time the police arrived, has not shown up at his home in the area, had his phone turned off. Police now taking this step to find him https://t.co/VF74W6C2E0
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) March 20, 2024
Sutton signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Lions last offseason. He had a disappointing first season in Detroit, and this news comes days after his entire $10.5 million base salary for 2024 became fully guaranteed. The structure of his contract assured he wasn't going anywhere this offseason anyway.
Arrest warrant issued for Lions cornerback Cameron Sutton
Via Rogers, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office assistant chief communications officer Phil Martello had a statement that added some details to the situation.
"What we can release, that our deputies are comfortable with, is on the 7th of March is when this occurred, around 4:35 in the morning is when we got a call," assistant chief communications officer Phil Martello told the Detroit News. "It was a domestic violence (call) and we're not comfortable to really say who (the victim) is."
"We tried to make contact with (Sutton)," Martello said. "We've called him, no answer. He's been ducking us. Our deputies have exhausted all leads here. He's got vehicles and a home in a county one over from us and he's not been there and we've not been able to catch him there. So, again, it seems like he's turned his phone off or gotten rid of his phone or something because we haven't been able to get ahold of him."
Update: 1:32 p.m. ET: The Lions have issued a statement on the situation with Sutton.
"We became aware of the ongoing legal situation involving Cam Sutton this morning. We will continue to monitor the situation and will not have further comment at this time.”
Update, 3:35 p.m. ET: According to Rogers and Detroit News courts reporter Robert Snell, there's an ongoing paternity and parenting case between Sutton and a 35-year old woman in Florida, dating back to Sutton filing a petition in August of 2022 to determine paternity and establish parenting time.
"A final judgment of paternity was issued in February, and the case was active as recently as March 6 — one day before the alleged domestic violence incident — when the parties were scheduled for a Zoom hearing."
Update, March 21, 9:40 a.m. ET: According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Sutton had not turned himself in as of 9:20 a.m. Thursday morning.
As of 9:20 a.m., Lions CB Cam Sutton still hasn't turned himself on the warrant for domestic battery by strangulation, per the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office https://t.co/7d2FL5E5hD via @freep
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 21, 2024
Update, March 21, 5:40 p.m. ET: ESPN's Eric Woodyard confirmed Sutton had still not turned himself in as of Thursday afternoon, right around the time the Lions released him.
As of 3:54 pm Cam Sutton still hasn’t turned himself into the police after an arrest warrant was issued over his alleged involvement in a domestic violence case. https://t.co/VDBhIHjBjd
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) March 21, 2024
Update, March 22, 1:15 p.m. ET: According to Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, Sutton still hasn't turned himself in or been apprehended, more than 48 hours after the arrest warrant was publicized. Birkett added authorities have no concern for Sutton's well-being at this point.
More than 48 hours after a warrant was made public for Cam Sutton in Hillsborough County, the former Lions cornerback still hasn't turned himself in or been apprehended by the department.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) March 22, 2024
I asked the sheriff’s department earlier about worries about Sutton’s well being at this time, they said that’s not a concern at this point https://t.co/xpY9GdjIKN
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) March 22, 2024
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