Auburn defensive back Stephen Roberts was arrested on charges of attempting to elude an officer and for possessing a firearm without a license.

Roberts was arrested at 9:53 p.m. Wednesday night during a traffic stop at the intersection of Harmon Drive and E Veterans Blvd. in Auburn, according to the arrest report provided to AL.com, which lists the firearm in Roberts' possession without a permit as a handgun.

Auburn Police Capt. Lorenza Dorsey told AL.com Roberts was "a passenger in a vehicle and fled from officers during a traffic stop."

The Opelika native was then taken to the Lee County Detention Center, where he was booked at 10:40 p.m., according to Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones, who said Roberts was released, with each charge having a bond of $1,000, later Wednesday night.

Both charges are Class A misdemeanors in Alabama and carry a penalty of no more than one year in jail and up to a $6,000 fine. Roberts is due in court at 8 a.m. on Nov. 17.

"Coach (Gus) Malzahn is aware," an Auburn spokesman told AL.com in a statement Friday morning. "He is gathering all the facts and will handle the situation appropriately."

Roberts, who appeared in all 13 games in 2015 and started the final four games of the season, was expected to start at free safety for the Tigers this fall. Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele mentioned Roberts first when he named the team's top four safeties earlier this week and the 5-foot-11, 183-pound junior has also been practicing at cornerback and had a role on special teams.

"There's no doubt Stephen Roberts, he was one of our better special teams guys last year," Malzahn said on Aug. 20. "He's got experience at the safety position the second half of the year, had a very good spring. Just turning into one of those leaders of the defensive side that I know(defensive backs coach Wesley) McGriff has a lot of confidence in.

"He's a savvy football player; he just understands football. He's starting to develop into the player that we really expected when we recruited him and I'm proud of where he's at right now. He's got to go out there, he's got to keep improving and all that but he's a football player."

Roberts attributed his improvement over the course of last season to "things off the field" and being more dedicated to studying film. He had 26 tackles, including 21 in the final four games, and three pass breakups during his sophomore season.

"When I have bad things off the field then it doesn't work for me on the field," Roberts said earlier this month. "When I had to get things good off the field, it started to work good on the field. And just my film study. I started studying film, and like I said, most people when they're on second team or they ain't playing they just move to the back burner. I didn't have that mindset. I just had the mindset that I got to keep working and make it work when I get my chance, I got to make something of it."

Roberts is the fifth Auburn football player to be arrested this off-season, joining Byron Cowart, Carlton Davis, Ryan Davis and Jeremiah Dinson, who were all arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana during a traffic stop in late April. Malzahn has said those four players, none of whom have been available for interviews since their arrest, were disciplined but will not lose playing time due to their arrest. They are all due in court Sept. 1.