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Vikings’ Adrian Peterson indicted on felony charge of injury to a child

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By Michael Martinez

CNN

(CNN) — NFL running back Adrian Peterson has been indicted on a felony charge of injury to a child, Lt. Brady Fitzgerald of the Montgomery County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

The sheriff’s office entered a warrant for Peterson’s arrest. The indictment was issued Thursday, and no further details were immediately available, Fitzgerald said.

Peterson wasn’t in custody in the county jail as of Friday afternoon, and the sheriff’s office didn’t have details on any arrest of the football player, Fitzgerald said in a statement. Montgomery County is north of Houston.

Peterson’s attorney couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

“The Vikings are in the process of gathering information regarding the legal situation involving Adrian Peterson,” the team said in a statement.

The team also said that its star player has been deactivated for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.

Peterson, whose hometown is Palestine, Texas, has been a running back for the Vikings since 2007, and he rushed for 75 yards in this season’s first game.

In 2012, he was named the league’s most valuable player when he rushed for 2,097 yards, just nine yards short of the single-season mark, the NFL said.

Peterson, 29, lost a 2-year-old son last year who was living with his mother in South Dakota, and her boyfriend, Joseph Robert Patterson, was charged with murder. Patterson has denied the charge and said the boy choked on strawberry fruit snacks, the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, reported.

Patterson, 28, also was indicted for an alleged attack on the boy’s mother and pleaded not guilty to those charges in July, the Argus Leader reported.

CNN’s Jill Martin contributed to this report.

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