FOXBORO -- Patriots on the fringe, beware.

If you do the crime, you won't get the time -- a lesson reinforced Wednesday when the team released free agent wide receiver Marquise Walker eight days before the start of training camp.

Walker, signed on Feb. 6, was arrested Sunday morning in Tampa on charge of driving under the influence with property damage or personal injury. That's a no-no for newcomers to the roster of the defending Super Bowl champions, and once word got back to coach Bill Belichick of Walker's arrest, the receiver's brief Patriot career was promptly terminated.

The team didn't cite Walker's arrest in the press release.

According to a report in the Tampa Tribune, Florida Highway Patrol officers reported to the scene of a car accident at Interstate 275 and Dale Mabry Highway, one of the main thoroughfares through Tampa, involving Walker and another vehicle. In the arrest report, a trooper stated Walker mumbled his words, stumbled while attempting to stand up and smelled of alcohol. Walker, who listed his current occupation as a player with the Patriots, refused to submit to a field sobriety test. He was booked into the Orient Road Jail on a $500 bond.

Two people involved in the crash were transferred to a local hospital.

Walker was originally the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' third-round draft pick out of Michigan in 2002.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound receiver, who holds the Michigan career record for receptions with 176, also spent time with the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals.

-- MARK FARINELLA