Published: 1/25/2012 2:00 AM
Last Modified: 1/31/2012 3:05 PM
Correction: A Tulsa World story on the arrest of Richard Roberts was unclear about his relationship with Oral Roberts University. Roberts is chairman and CEO of the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, which moved off the ORU campus about five years ago and is not connected with the university. This story has been corrected.
View Richard Roberts’ arrest and booking report.Richard Roberts, a Tulsa evangelist and Oral Roberts University's former president, was arrested early Tuesday on complaints of driving under the influence of alcohol and speeding, records show.
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper clocked Roberts' 2006 Mercedes going 93 mph in a 65-mph zone just after midnight on the eastbound Creek Turnpike west of U.S. 169, according to his arrest report.
The report says Roberts' blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.11, which is greater than the legal limit of 0.08.
The trooper noticed a strong smell of alcohol after pulling Roberts over on northbound U.S. 169 just south of 71st Street.
Roberts was unable to complete two field sobriety tests and was taken to the Jenks Police Department to determine his blood-alcohol level, the report says.
He was booked into the Tulsa Jail about 2:45 a.m. and was released on $1,100 bond about 5:45 a.m., records show.
Roberts, who lives several miles southwest of where he was arrested, according to jail records, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Roberts, 63, the son of ORU founder Oral Roberts, resigned in 2007 after 15 years as the university's president amid allegations that he and his family misused university and ministry resources.
ORU announced earlier that year that it was $52 million in debt.
Roberts denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement Tuesday, the university said: "Our prayers go out to Richard and (his wife) Lindsay Roberts and their entire family as they face this life challenge. May God's grace help them as they work towards healing."
The university's board of regents gave Roberts the honorary title of president emeritus in 2008.
Director of Public Relations Jeremy Burton said ORU considers it more accurate to refer to Roberts as its former president.
President emeritus "was a title that was given by the exiting board of regents right as we were transitioning to our new board of trustees," he said, adding that it is "maybe incongruent to how we refer to him."
Roberts has remained chairman and CEO of the Oral Roberts Evangelical Association, which was separated from the institution after his resignation.
Richard and Lindsay Roberts host the nationally syndicated television program "The Place for Miracles: Your Hour of Healing," according to the association's website.
The website describes the program as an hourlong interactive broadcast in which Roberts "ministers in the power of the Holy Spirit" and prays "for those who are sick or hurting in some area of their lives."
Original Print Headline: Richard Roberts jailed in DUI case
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