O.J. Simpson named suspect in armed robbery

By: KATHLEEN HENNESSEY and LINDA DEUTSCH - Associated Press
Former football star says he was trying to retrieve stolen property | Friday, September 14, 2007 7:54 PM PDT ∞

LAS VEGAS -- O.J. Simpson says he went into a casino hotel room only to retrieve memorabilia that he felt was stolen from him. But police are investigating it as an armed robbery and named the fallen football star as a suspect Friday in yet another surprising chapter to his legal saga.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Simpson insisted there were no guns involved and that he went to the room at the Palace Station casino only to get stolen mementos that included his Hall of Fame certificate and a picture of the running back with J. Edgar Hoover.

"It's stolen stuff that's mine. Nobody was roughed up," Simpson told the AP.

Las Vegas Metro Police Capt. James Dillon said the confrontation was reported as an armed robbery involving guns. But he said no weapons had been recovered and stressed that the investigation was in its "infancy."

Simpson was questioned by police immediately after the incident Thursday night, and a formal interview was being arranged, Dillon said. No charges had been filed and no one was in custody.

Simpson said auction house owner Tom Riccio called him several weeks ago to say some collectors "have a lot of your stuff and they don't want anyone to know they are selling it."

Simpson, who was in Las Vegas for a friend's wedding, said he arranged to meet Riccio at the hotel. Riccio had set up a meeting with collectors under the guise that he had a private collector interested in buying Simpson's items.

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

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

Simpson said he wasn't sure where the items were taken.

Dillon said some of the items had been recovered. He did not specify which collectibles were located.

A message left for Riccio was not immediately returned.

Police spokesman Jose Montoya said that when officers talked to Simpson, he "made the comment that he believed the memorabilia was his. We're getting conflicting stories from the two sides."

One of the collectors in the room was Alfred Beardsley, a real estate agent and longtime collector of Simpson memorabilia, some of which he has been ordered to turn over as part of the Goldman's lawsuit.

"I'm OK. I'm shaken up," Beardsley told the AP by phone, but wouldn't comment further, citing the police investigation.

Bruce Fromong, a collector who testified at Simpson's civil trial, said he was in the room when Simpson barged in with other men.

"Him and some of his guys come busting through the door," Fromong told the celebrity gossip site TMZ.com. "They came in with guns, hollering and screaming."

Fromong, who reportedly tried to sell the suit Simpson wore when he was acquitted of murder, described him as a former close friend and said he couldn't explain the behavior.

"O.J.'s in enough trouble. For him to come and do this kind of thing, I don't know what's wrong with O.J. This is stupidity."

Simpson is considered a suspect in the case, Montoya said. He was released after he and several associates were questioned, and he remained in Las Vegas.

"We don't believe he's going anywhere," Montoya said.

The Las Vegas district attorney's office will decide whether to pursue charges in the casino case.

The Heisman Trophy winner, ex-NFL star and actor lives near Miami and has been a tabloid staple since his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, were killed in 1994. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges, but a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Simpson has had to auction off his sports collectibles, including his Heisman Trophy, to pay some of the $33.5 million judgment awarded in the civil trial.

On Thursday, the Goldman family published a book about the killings that Simpson had written under the title, "If I Did It," about how he would have committed the crime 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."

Fred Goldman, Ron's Goldman's father, said he was stunned by the news from Las Vegas.

"I'm overwhelmed and amazed," Fred Goldman told the AP. "If it turns out as it is currently being played, I think this shows more of who he is. He is proving over and over and over again that he thinks he can do anything and get away with it."

Goldman's lawyer, David Cook, said he would seek a court order on Tuesday to get whatever items Simpson took in Las Vegas.

The Palace Station, an aging property just west of the Las Vegas Strip, is one of several Station Casinos-owned resorts that cater to locals. The 1,000-room hotel-casino, with a 21-story tower and adjacent buildings, opened in 1976.

A company spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment.

Quotes from the casino confrontation involving O.J. Simpson

Quotes in the aftermath of a Las Vegas casino hotel room confrontation involving O.J. Simpson and several sports memorabilia dealers:

"We didn't break into any room. There was no armed robbery." -- O.J. Simpson in an Associated Press telephone interview from Las Vegas.

"Everybody knows this is stolen stuff. ... There wasn't a break-in. ... It's stolen stuff that's mine. Nobody was roughed up. What I can't understand is these guys are in a room trying to fence stolen goods and I'm the story." -- Simpson.

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

"I'm OK. I'm shaken up. It's an ongoing police investigation. I'm fine." -- Alfred Beardsley, a real estate agent and longtime collector of Simpson memorabilia, in an Associated Press interview from Las Vegas.

"We have reported, from the victim involved, that there were weapons involved. We have not determined that at this time and we have not recovered any weapons. ... We do have video surveillance tapes that have been recovered from various locations, along with still images that have been recovered." -- Las Vegas Metro Police Capt. James Dillon at a news conference in Las Vegas.

"I think this shows more of who he is. He is proving over and over again that he thinks he can do anything and get away with it." -- Fred Goldman, father of Ron Goldman, who Simpson was acquitted of murdering, in an Associated Press telephone interview from New York.

A look at O.J. Simpson's run-ins with the law in recent years

A look at some of O.J. Simpson's brushes with the law in recent years:

-- Sept. 14, 2007: O.J. Simpson was under investigation in an alleged armed robbery at a casino hotel room involving sports memorabilia, but the former football star denied breaking into the room or carrying a weapon. Simpson told The Associated Press he went to the room to get memorabilia that was stolen from him.

-- July 4, 2005: A neighbor who went to O.J. Simpson's suburban Miami home to help jump start his girlfriend's car ended up calling police to report a fight. Police showed up but no charges were filed.

-- March 8, 2004: Satellite television network DirecTV Inc. accused O.J. Simpson in Miami federal court of using illegal electronic devices to pirate its broadcast signals. The El Segundo, Calif.-based company later won a $25,000 judgment and Simpson was ordered pay $33,678 in attorneys' fees and costs.

-- Jan. 18, 2003: Police said they arrived at O.J. Simpson's Florida home after his teenage daughter placed an emotional 911 call following an argument with her father. Sydney Simpson, then 17, was crying when she asked police to assist in what she termed "an abuse thing."

-- Nov. 22, 2002: O.J. Simpson paid a $130 fine for speeding through a Florida manatee zone in a 30-foot powerboat on the Fourth of July. An arrest warrant was briefly issued for the former football star.

-- Oct. 24, 2001: O.J. Simpson was cleared of all charges in a Florida case involving an alleged road-rage incident.

-- Oct. 3, 1995: O.J. Simpson acquitted of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. He was later found liable for their deaths in a civil case and ordered to pay $33.5 million.