Detroit Lions linebacker Vernon Maxwell was charged...

Detroit Lions linebacker Vernon Maxwell was charged with fighting with three Tempe, Ariz., police officers.

Maxwell, a former All-American at Arizona State, was charged Thursday night with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer and one count each of felony resisting arrest, felony criminal damage and disorderly conduct, officer Roger Clay said,

Clay said Corporal James Kerr and officers Robert Ruiz and Anthony Ippolito responded to a report of a dispute at Maxwell’s home Thursday evening and found the athlete arguing with 26-year-old Joli Claire Cooper, who told police she wanted to return to Alabama, but Maxwell would not let her.

Clay said as Kerr was escorting Cooper away, Maxwell bolted from Ruiz and Ippolito, and a “wrestling match” ensued. He said the officers eventually subdued Maxwell but not before they suffered various cuts, bumps and scrapes, plus damaged uniforms and equipment.