FORMER LIONS CB CAM SUTTON TURNS HIMSELF IN FACE OF DOMESTIC BATTERY ALLEGATIONS
Former Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Cam Sutton has turned himself in to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, in Florida, nearly a month after an arrest warrant was issued for his alleged involvement in a domestic violence case.
The Georgia-born defensive back has been avoiding arrest since the warrant was issued on March 7th but ended up turning himself in on Sunday night. The County Sheriff’s office released a 15-second video that showed the former Lions star cornerback going into custody in handcuffs at Orient Road Jail. He was booked in at 8:24pm local time.
Sutton currently faces a domestic battery by strangulation charge, a third degree felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison.
“After weeks of evading law enforcement, this man has finally made the right choice to turn himself in,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “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.”
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office had received a call relating to an alleged incident involving the NFL player at around 4:35 am on March 7, where the 29-year-old had allegedly battered a woman before fleeing the scene. The Sheriff’s department shared on social media a picture of Sutton and the license plate number of a car they believed he was driving, and said they were seeking assistance in locating him.
Police said they tried to get in touch with Sutton to no avail and explained that as part of the reason they resorted to social media. “We tried to make contact with [Sutton],” public affairs official Phil 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 a hold of him.”
The alleged incident took place in the city of Lutz, a suburb of Tampa.
Sutton wound up being released by Detroit on March 21st with a post-June 1 designation, a move that allowed the team to spread the dead money associated with his release over 2024 and 2025. The 2017 third-round pick had just signed a three-year, $33 million with the Lions as a free agent last offseason.
Detroit had already traded for former Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis III, signed Amik Robertson in free agency and brought back Emmanuel Moseley to bolster their secondary last month. According to multiple reports, the Lions are still looking to add to that position in both free agency and the NFL draft later this month. Sutton was expected to be the no.2 cornerback opposite Davis with Robertson and Moseley serving as backups.
Lions President and CEO Rod Wood confirmed during the NFL’s Annual Meeting last week that they did not release Sutton for any other reason other than the legal turmoil surrounding him. “I want to make sure everybody knows that we didn’t release him because of anything related to the cap or money that we may owe him,” said Wood. “It was the right thing to do for the organization.”
“Obviously, there’s a legal matter here that will determine exactly what happened, but I would say that was a factor as well as the fact that he was, I guess, [now], on the run from the warrant. So all that factored in, and it was a difficult decision but it was the right decision and we’re just moving on.”
Sutton was due a $10.5 million base salary in 2024 that became guaranteed at the start of the new league year on March 13th.
Wood told WJBK-TV Fox 2 in a subsequent interview that Sutton was at the Lions’ Allen Park training facility, “unexpectedly” working out with the team’s strength staff when the Lions learned of the incident. The team’s staff talked to him and advised him to turn himself into the police, after which Sutton left and the team ended up releasing him the following day.
“We were learning it the same moment you guys were learning about the warrant,” Wood told reporters at the league meeting in Florida last week. “Actually I was on a Zoom call with the league on another matter when it popped up on my phone. As soon as that call wrapped up, we kind of quickly convened and talked about it.”
“We were able to reach Cam and talk about it, and suggested get counsel and do the right thing to turn himself in. And then after that, we met the rest of the day and then the following morning to decide to release him.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked during the NFL Combine last month whether he reaches out to players like Cam Sutton when they’re in trouble, to which he said to the affirmative. “I do,” said Tomlin. “But those conversations are between us.” Asked if he had specifically talked to Sutton, Tomlin said, “[That’s] none of your business.”
Sutton started all 17 regular season games for the Lions last year, making a career-high 65 tackles and 6 passes defensed. He also recorded one interception and a forced fumble.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.