Peterson calls dropped charge ‘bittersweet’

Adrian Peterson was confident all along that a resisting arrest charge against him would be dropped, but he wanted a more public forum to let his side of the story get out.

Adrian Peterson wishes he had a chance to let all the facts become more public with the charge levied against him for resisting arrest on July 7.

The charge was dropped 10 days ago, but the coverage of his July 7 arrest in a Houston nightclub brought more attention than the charge being dropped in front of a grand jury. Speaking Friday in the Vikings locker room, Peterson said he wished the facts would have gotten out in a more public forum instead of being discussed only in front of a grand jury.

“To be honest, it’s bittersweet for me,” Peterson said of the charge being dropped. “I knew it was going to get dropped. It was false, the reports and everything. All officers had different stories. I wasn’t concerned, I wasn’t bothered by it at all. I didn’t lose sleep. I knew it was going to get dropped.

“To be honest, I hated it got dropped in front of the grand jury. Everything (didn’t) get covered. But it’s a blessing to have it out of the way and I can move forward.”

Peterson’s attorney, Derek Hollingsworth, said earlier this month that no probable cause was found for prosecutors to continue with the case, according to the Associated Press. Charges were dropped a day before the case was scheduled for a pretrial hearing.

Peterson maintained his innocence throughout the four-month window from the July 7 incident to the Nov. 14 dismissal.

Police said Peterson shoved an officer inside a Houston nightclub after the officer, who was on security duty, asked Peterson and his companions to leave the club after it had close.

Peterson said it took the grand jury only 20 minutes to decide to drop the charge after hearing his side of the story.

“The grand jury came in and I was in there with the defense attorney by myself. He asked his questions, I answered them and 20 minutes later they came out and dismissed it,” he said Friday. “They could have did it beforehand, but I don’t want to get into all that. They didn’t. Ultimately, it’s dropped, it’s over with. I’ll just bite my tongue, swallow my pride. It’s a done deal.”

Peterson certainly hasn’t let the specter of the case affect his comeback from Dec. 30 surgery to repair his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee. He leads the NFL with 1,128 yards rushing and is coming off four straight games with more than 120 yards rushing.

He is now in the conversation for the league’s MVP.

“It feels good,” he said of being considered an MVP candidate. “I play this game to be the best. When you get in talks about the MVP, then other people are looking at you in that light, too. It’s cool. I’m just going to continue doing what I’m doing, not worrying about that, and everything else will fall into place.”

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Tim Yotter is the publisher of Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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