COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett was sprayed with pepper spray and struck after he surrendered following an early morning chase last week, his lawyer said Sunday.

"It is our contention that both of those things occurred after he was in handcuffs," said attorney Michael Hoague, who added that his client obeyed police commands.

Hoague is representing Clarett in an unrelated robbery trial that was to start Monday but postponed until September when a judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation after Clarett's latest arrest.

Officers said Clarett was driving erratically when they tried to pull him over Wednesday. He refused to get out of the sport utility vehicle he was driving, prompting several officers to remove him by force, police said.

Clarett was wearing a bulletproof vest that rendered stun guns ineffective. It took several officers to handcuff him, and he kicked at the doors of a van he was placed in and spit at officers, prompting them to put a mask over his mouth, police said.

Hoague claimed Clarett was compliant throughout.

During the pursuit, Clarett called his mother and fiancee to tell them he loved them. He asked his mother to call his lawyer, Hoague said.

"A person who calls his loved ones to say, 'I'm about to go to jail,' does not have the mind-set to put up a fight," Hoague said.