Antonio Cromartie Spends New Colts Cash To Pay Off Back Child Support

Cromartie's rep says the only reason he didn't pay the support is because he was fighting Pierre over custody. The rep claims she had ongoing legal issues, and says Cro felt Alonzo wasn't safe with her.

Antonio Cromartie took his $3 million deal from the Coltsand immediately used it to settle a child support dispute with a baby mama ... and avoided a possible arrest in the process.

Cromartie was delinquent on child support payments to Rosemita Pierre -- the mother of Alonzo, his oldest child ... aka #1 of 13. According to docs, AC was ordered to pay her $4,000 per month, starting in January 2016 but failed to do so.

He was due in a Florida court last week to either pay up or explain why he couldn't -- but Cro was a no-show. Then the cavalry arrived in the form of the Colts one-year contract ... which he signed Monday.

We're told Cromartie made a payment Tuesday afternoon. It's unclear how much he forked over, but it was enough for the judge to withdraw a warrant that had been issued earlier in the day.