Lawsuit Accuses Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Of Rape

A woman filed suit against an Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper on Monday, accusing him of raping her during a traffic stop last month.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol announced last week that it had suspended Trooper Eric Roberts on July 24th pending an investigation, but it would not divulge the nature of that investigation.

8/12/2014: Related Story: Woman Accusing OHP Trooper Of Rape Has Outstanding Arrest Warrants

8/5/2014: Related Story: Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Under Investigation

On Monday, August 11, 2014, attorney Kevin Adams filed a lawsuit in Tulsa federal court on behalf of a 28-year-old woman against Roberts accusing him of raping her on July 22, 2014.

According to the lawsuit, Roberts was patrolling near Town West Shopping Center that afternoon when he saw the woman, identified in court documents by only her initials, driving with a female friend. He made eye contact with her and turned his cruiser around. When the woman pulled into the parking lot of a motel where she and the friend were planning to stay, Trooper Roberts started a traffic stop, even though she claims she had not violated any traffic laws.

The lawsuit says Trooper Roberts told the woman he could smell marijuana and said, "You just made my day." Trooper Roberts made the woman get into his patrol car where she says he began asking her inappropriate questions and making inappropriate comments. She says Trooper Roberts asked her if she had a phone with internet access and she said she did.

Read The Lawsuit

Trooper Roberts told her to have her friend get a room without her then told the woman to drive to a convenience store nearby, the lawsuit says. Trooper Roberts bought two bottles of water, then ordered her to get into his cruiser. Trooper Roberts ordered her to strip from the waist down and to call up a pornographic video on her phone, according to the lawsuit. The woman claims Trooper Roberts started to drive and forced the woman to perform sex acts on herself while he watched her and the video.

In the lawsuit, the woman claims she received multiple calls on her phone as the video played and Trooper Roberts would make her restart it after every one. The woman says once Trooper Roberts reached a secluded spot, he stopped the car and raped her while standing outside the passenger door of the patrol car. Afterwards, the woman claims, Trooper Roberts poured one of the bottles of water he had purchased onto his groin area, then got a blue rag out of the trunk "along with a substance with a medicated smell to clean himself."

The woman says Trooper Roberts then allowed the woman to get dressed as he drove her back to her car where he said, "I'll see you later."

The lawsuit says the woman confided in a friend who got the number for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. The next day the woman called the OHP and made a report.

According to the lawsuit, the woman led investigators from the highway patrol to the store where she said Trooper Roberts purchased the water and to the place where she says she was raped. The lawsuit says she believes the investigators were able to retrieve the condom she says Trooper Roberts used.

On Monday afternoon, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol released a statement on the lawsuit:

"The Oklahoma Highway Patrol confirms state trooper Eric Roberts has been placed on suspension with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Trooper Roberts, a sixteen year veteran of the OHP, was suspended Thursday, July 24th, when Patrol officials received allegations of misconduct and launched an immediate investigation into the matter.

'We take any complaint of misconduct very seriously. When this complaint was received against Trooper Eric Roberts, I ordered an immediate investigation into the matter. I expect the completion of this investigation very soon. These allegations are especially disturbing and must be properly investigated. Any type of conduct of the nature alleged will not be tolerated,' stated Chief of Patrol Colonel Ricky Adams.

No further details will be released pending the outcome of this investigation."

Creek County District Attorney David Max Cook said Monday he's aware of the investigation but could not comment on it.

Roberts is assigned to Troop YB, which means he patrols the Turner Turnpike.

The woman's attorney said the woman was terrified for her life during the ordeal and that she has no criminal history other than minor traffic violations. He said she is getting the help she needs to get through this.