Tampa - Randy Alan White, who helped found the Without Walls International Church that later came under federal scrutiny for its ostentatious spending, was arrested and charged Saturday night with driving under the influence, records show.
Tampa police stopped White, 53, around 11:30 p.m. near Ashley Drive and Interstate 275. Police recorded his blood-alcohol level at 0.093 and 0.095 percent, records show. Florida law presumes a driver impaired at 0.08 percent.
The former pastor was released from jail around 8 a.m. Sunday after posting $500 bail.
With then-wife Paula White, he founded a ministry two decades ago that grew into Without Walls and propelled the Whites to become powerhouses within charismatic Christian circles.
The Whites didn't return a call for comment. In her sermon Sunday, the church's website shows, Paula White said that after experiencing travails the day before, "this morning I had to wake up to a situation and circumstance with someone that I care very much about. … And that is Pastor Randy White. … This ministry does not compromise the principles of God, but we are the perfect church for people who are not."
The couple announced their divorce in 2007. That year, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, led an investigation into the executive compensation, personal assets and expenses for Without Walls and five other national ministries.
Amid it, Without Walls hit other financial troubles: It defaulted on a loan, and its Tampa site faced foreclosure. White resolved the foreclosure before he stepped down in 2009, citing health concerns. Paula White took over the ministry, which claimed 22,000 members.
The congressional inquiry closed in January. None of the ministries investigated were hit with federal tax law violations or specific wrongdoings. However, Without Walls was named one of the four ministries that didn't fully cooperate with the inquiry.
Since leaving the church, Randy White worked with the Kristen Renee Foundation, a nonprofit he started in memory of his 30-year-old daughter who died of brain cancer. The foundation feeds the poor and funds research.
Jail records list his current address as a penthouse at 345 Bayshore, a condominium complex on Bayshore Boulevard.
