Simpson Named Suspect in Vegas Robbery

Saturday, September 15, 2007 LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson said he doesn't understand why he is under investigation in an alleged armed robbery at a casino hotel room involving his sports memorabilia. The former football star told The Associated Press on Friday that he went to the room to recover items stolen from him and that, despite reports, no guns were involved.

"There was no armed robbery here," Simpson said in a telephone interview. "It wasn't a robbery. They said `Take your stuff and go.'"

The incident at the Palace Station casino has once again focused attention on Simpson, who was acquitted of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman more than a decade ago. He was later found civilly liable for their deaths and ordered to pay a $33.5 million judgment.

On Thursday night, officers responded to a call from the hotel made by Alfred Beardsley, one of the men in the hotel room and a longtime collector of Simpson memorabilia. Police Capt. James Dillon said the caller told police that O.J. Simpson was involved in the robbery.

"We have (reports) from the victim that there were weapons involved," Dillon said, but added that no firearms had been recovered, no charges had been filed and no one was in custody.

Police contacted Simpson, who would not give authorities the names of the "three or four" men who accompanied him into the hotel room until his lawyer was present, Dillon said.

Authorities were trying to sort out who owned the items in dispute and had some "legitimate information that part or all of the items" belong to Simpson, Dillon said.

Simpson said he and Beardsley had a friendly phone conversation later Friday and they wanted to resolve the matter. Both indicated the underlying issue was recovery of photos from Simpson's childhood.

"Nobody was roughed up," Simpson said in the interview. "What I can't understand is these guys are in a room trying to fence stolen goods and I'm the story."

Simpson was a Heisman Trophy winner in college and a star running back in the NFL. Many of his sports collectibles, including his Heisman, were seized under court order and auctioned to pay some of the $33.5 million awarded to the Goldman family and the estate of Nicole Brown Simpson.

Now a Miami resident, O.J. Simpson lives off a sizable pension that could not be seized under the civil judgment. But last year, during a scandal over payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars for his participation in a book about the murders, he said he needed the money to get out of debt and to "secure my homestead."

Simpson said he was conducting a sting operation on Thursday to collect his belongings when he was led to the room.

"We walked into the room," Simpson said. "I'm the last one to go in and when they see me, it's all 'Oh God.'"

Simpson said it was auction house owner Tom Riccio who tipped him off and arranged for him to meet with collectors trying to peddle his belongings. Beardsley, however, said Riccio found out that he was going to be involved in a private sale of the childhood photos "and got Simpson all worked up."

"I will give him those pictures back, I feel bad about it," said Beardsley, adding that he and Simpson "feel this has gotten way out of control."

Riccio, meanwhile, told the Los Angeles Times that Simpson was supposed to show up and tell the men to give the belongings back or he would call the police. Instead, Simpson showed up with about seven "intimidating looking guys," at least one of whom had a gun, he said.

"We tried to peacefully reacquire these personal items, not for their monetary value, but for their family value. O.J. wanted to be able to pass these things down to his kids," Riccio told the newspaper.

"They (Simpson and his companions) took the stuff, and they left. What can I say? Things went haywire," he said.

yesterday it was all kind of alerts that it was an "armed robbery" over regaining his own shit..i'm sorry those victims dead over "a decade ago"..shit they even mourned longer than our rap legends..

this is the only time i ever heard of ppl mourning crackheads for a long extensive time..get over it and leave o.j. alone..besides HE WAS AQUITTED!!!!!!!!!!keyword....aquitted

Yeah they gonna forever haunt Juice for that shit because he got away with it. He know he will never get rid of that shit....that's why he sold the rights to that book so they could go after somebody else for puttin it out...so he won't be alone. Nigga crazy.



The Juice is still loose! LMAO




..... ..... (he deserves 3 of them fuckas)

smh...

this is gettin way out of hand..smh the theif that had his stuff even want o.j.'s charges dropped..and on the news they editing what he says like he is against o.j.

i wouldn't be surprised if police planted those weapons in this story below.. bet next they will put some kind of drug in it too just to make sure he stay locked up

Sunday, September 16, 2007 LAS VEGAS - Police arrested O.J. Simpson on Sunday, saying he was part of an armed group who burst into a Las Vegas hotel room and snatched memorabilia that documented his own sports career, long ago eclipsed by scandal.

The arrest starts a new legal odyssey for the fallen football star who more than a decade ago was acquitted of the slayings of his ex-wife and a friend, and opens the possibility he could spend decades behind bars.

Simpson was taken away from The Palms casino-hotel by plainclothes officers a day after the arrest of a golfing buddy who police say accompanied him with a gun in the Thursday night holdup. Handcuffed and wearing a golf shirt and jeans, Simpson was placed in an SUV. He was later ordered by a judge to be held without bail, police said.

"He was very cooperative, there were no issues," Capt. James Dillon said.

Simpson was at the Clark County Detention Center on Sunday night for booking on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary with a firearm, police said. The district attorney, meanwhile, said he expected Simpson to ultimately be charged with seven felonies and one gross misdemeanor.

If convicted of the booking charges, Simpson would face up to 30 years in state prison on each robbery count alone.

"He is facing a lot of time," said Clark County District Attorney David Roger.

Simpson, 60, has said he and other people were retrieving items that belonged to him. Simpson has said there were no guns involved and that he went to the room at the casino only to get stolen mementos that included his Hall of Fame certificate and a picture of the running back with J. Edgar Hoover.

Simpson told The Associated Press on Saturday that he did not call the police to help reclaim the items because he has found the police unresponsive to him ever since his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, were killed in 1994.

"The police, since my trouble, have not worked out for me," he said, noting that whenever he has called the police "It just becomes a story about O.J."

Police did not allege that Simpson personally carried a weapon in the incident.

"We don't have any information to lead us to believe he was armed even based on those charges," said police Lt. Clint Nichols.

Police said they seized two firearms involved in the robbery along with sports memorabilia, mostly signed by Simpson. They also said they recovered collectible baseballs and Joe Montana cleats at private residences early Sunday on three search warrants. But "whether or not the property belonged to Mr. Simpson is a matter of debate," Nichols said.

Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., was arrested Saturday night on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon. Alexander, who was described as one of Simpson's golfing buddies, was released without bail Saturday night.

"Walter was one of the two subjects who had a gun," Capt. James Dillon said.

Robert Dennis Rentzer, a Los Angeles lawyer representing Alexander, said he was able to arrange his client's release from custody, but wasn't familiar with the allegations.

Police also are seeking four men: Clarence Stewart, 53, of Las Vegas, Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, Tom Scotto, whose age and hometown were not known, and another man who was not identified.

Simpson, a Heisman Trophy winner, ex-NFL star and actor, lives near Miami and has been a tabloid staple since his ex-wife and Goldman were killed. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges, but a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, welcomed the possibility that Simpson could go to prison.

"He's believed for years, decades, that he's entitled to do anything he wants, and the legal system and society has basically agreed with him," Goldman said. "This time, hopefully, he'll get what he deserves. He'll get jail time."

Police said Sunday that Simpson asked to speak with his lawyer before proceeding with an interview, although he spoke several times with investigators before his arrest. The attorney, Yale Galanter, said that he was attempting to get Simpson released.

"Obviously we intend to fight these charges vigorously. We believe it is an extremely defensible case based on conflicting witness statements, flip-flopping by witnesses and witnesses making deals with the government to flip," he said.

Simpson said auction house owner Tom Riccio called him several weeks ago to say some collectors were selling some of his items. Riccio set up a meeting with collectors under the guise that he had a private collector interested in buying Simpson's items.

Simpson said he was accompanied by several men he met at a wedding cocktail party, and they took the collectibles.

Alfred Beardsley, one of the sports memorabilia collectors who was in the hotel room, has said he wants the case dropped and that he's "on O.J.'s side."

"It's like a bad dream," Beardsley said. "I'm sad that O.J. is in custody."

Beardsley said he blames the whole thing on Riccio. "If they don't charge Riccio I will be very upset. That guy lied to O.J. and got him all pumped up," he said.

Simpson's arrest came just days after the Goldman family published a book that Simpson had written under the title, "If I Did It" about how he would have committed the killings of his ex-wife and Goldman had he actually done it.

After a deal for Simpson to publish it fell through, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded the book's rights to the Goldman family, who retitled it "If I Did It: The Confessions of the Killer." During the weekend, the book was the hottest seller in the country, hitting No. 1 on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.

Yep, That OJ sure is a cut above the rest.

(cue rimshot, studio audience doesn't respond)

I'll show myself out.