NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma quarterback Charles Thompson was arrested Monday night by FBI officialsand charged with selling 17 grams of cocaine to an undercover agent, the FBI said.
FBI spokesman Dan Vogel said Thompson, who was suspended from the Oklahoma football team earlier in the day by Coach Barry Switzer, was arrested at about 9 p.m. Monday at an undisclosed location in Norman.
He was taken Monday night to the Oklahoma County Jail in Oklahoma City, where he was to be arraigned before a federal magistrate Tuesday morning.
Vogel said Thompson, 21, was accused in a federal complaint of selling 17 grams of cocaine to an undercover FBI agent for $1,400 on Jan. 26, 1989.
The investigation was based on information supplied by Norman police, the FBI said.
Thompson's arrest came hours after Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer, whose program has been rocked by scandals in recent weeks, announced he had suspended the sophomore quarterback. Switzer's one-paragraph statement gave no reason for suspending Thompson, who stepped in for injured starter Jamelle Holieway last season.
'Today I have suspended Charles Thompson from the University of Oklahoma football team and am moving him out of the athletic dormitory, pending an investigation into violations of team regulations and policies,' Switzer said. 'I will say nothing more at this time about the matter.'
Thompson, a sophomore from Lawton, carried 145 times for 824 yards and 9 touchdowns last season and completed 17 of 50 pass attempts for 192 yards and 2 scores with 5 interceptions.
The suspension is the latest problem to befall the Oklahoma football program, which is on NCAA probation for recruiting violations.
On Friday, three Sooners football players were charged with rape in connection with an alleged athletic dormitory gang rape. Tackle Nigel Clay, 20, of Fontana, Calif., tight end Bernard Hall, 22, of Detroit, and running back Glen Bell, 20, of Muskogee were charged in the incident, and Clay and Hall face charges of giving alcohol to a minor.
Also in recent weeks, Oklahoma lineman Zarak Peters was charged with shooting teammate Jerry Parks at the athletic dorm on Jan. 13; another player was charged with assaulting a graduate student outside a Norman bar; several players were accused of damaging an Orlando, Fla., hotel before playing in the Citrus Bowl and eight athletes were accused of damaging a mural at a university cultural center.
The problems prompted meetings last week among Switzer, athletic director Donnie Duncan and acting university president David Swank. Switzer said females will not be allowed to visit the Bud Wilkinson House dorm, and the building will be redesigned to limit and control access.
