O.J. Simpson questioned about break-in involving sports memorabilia at

[BengalszoneBilly]

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Investigators questioned O.J. Simpson about a break-in at a casino hotel room involving sports memorabilia, police said Friday.

The break-in was reported at the Palace Station casino late Thursday night, police spokesman Jose Montoya said.

Simpson was released and is believed to be in Las Vegas, Montoya said.

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

The Heisman Trophy winner, ex-NFL star and actor had been scheduled to give a deposition Friday in Miami in a bankruptcy case involving his eldest daughter. But it was canceled because Simpson had told attorneys that he would be out of town.

Simpson 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.

Investigators in the casino case planned to give their report to prosecutors Friday, Montoya said. The district attorney's office will decide whether to pursue charges.

A Simpson attorney in Florida, Yale L. Galanter, did not immediately return phone messages seeking comment.

[jjakq27]

Anyone seen Kato lately?

[redsfan2]

Anyone seen Kato lately?

Why ............... did OJ kill him too?

[The PatternMaster]

Johnnie Cochran is dead so OJ is on his own this time.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Johnnie Cochran is dead so OJ is on his own this time.

He can always hire Billy Martin, Vick's apparently incompetent attorney.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

DUPE

[jjakq27]

Anyone seen Kato lately?

Why ............... did OJ kill him too?

Every criminal needs a dopey side kick. At least that's the way it is on TV.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Anyone seen Kato lately?

Why ............... did OJ kill him too?

Every criminal needs a dopey side kick. At least that's the way it is on TV.

I wonder where the dopey sidekick is these days?

[BengalszoneBilly]

He's OFFICIALLY a suspect now say Las Vegas Police! This is getting juicy as fast as the Patriots scandal did!

Simpson named suspect in armed robbery

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY and LINDA DEUTSCH, Associated Press Writers

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. Dillon said Simpson would not agree to a formal, recorded interview until his lawyer arrived, but did offer some statements about the incident. 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.

A message left for Riccio was not immediately returned.

"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 investigators were trying to untangle the web of ownership, and that some items had been recovered. He did not say which collectibles were located.

"We do have some conflicting statements, there is legitimate information that part or all of the items possibly are the possessions of O.J. Simpson," Dillon said, adding that would not excuse a robbery.

Police spokesman Jose Montoya said 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. He said that Simpson's account of the incident was fairly accurate except that there were guns.

Simpson said: "I didn't see anybody with any guns."

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 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. Both Beardsley and Simpson indicated that the underlying issue was recovery of photos from Simpson's childhood.

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.

[SteelerFan87]

Don't worry guys. I'm sure detective OJ is out there searching for the REAL robbers right now.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Don't worry guys. I'm sure detective OJ is out there searching for the REAL robbers right now.

Hah! Good one. I bet he has as much luck finding them as he did finding Nicole's killer. Ya know, you'd think that would have been easy to do. Get up in the morning, walk to the mirror to shave, look up and go, "There he is"!

[redsfan2]

Anyone seen Kato lately?

Why ............... did OJ kill him too?

Every criminal needs a dopey side kick. At least that's the way it is on TV.

I wonder where the dopey sidekick is these days?

Taking a dirt nap ???????????

[BengalszoneBilly]

Update! O.J. has now been ARRESTED. I'm surprised he didn't find a white Ford Bronco to try to run in!

O.J. Simpson arrested in Vegas robbery

By RYAN NAKASHIMA, Associated Press Writer

LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday and faces multiple felony charges in an alleged armed robbery of collectors involving the former football great's sports memorabilia, authorities said.

Prosecutors were planning to charge Simpson with two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, burglary with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and coercion, said Clark County District Attorney David Roger.

A conviction on the most serious charge, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, could bring a sentence of three to 35 years for each count, he said.

"He is facing a lot of time," Roger said.

Simpson was transferred to a detention center for booking Sunday evening, Dillon said. Dillon said he did not know whether Simpson would be able to post bail and be released Sunday.

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

At least one other person has been arrested and police said Sunday that they were searching for four others in connection with the alleged armed robbery that occurred in a room inside the Palace Station casino-hotel on Thursday.

Police Lt. Clint Nichols said Simpson invoked his right to an attorney immediately after being arrested.

Simpson, 60, has said he and other people with him 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."

The 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 in 1994. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges, but a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Police said two firearms and other evidence were seized at a private residence early Sunday.

Walter Alexander, 46, of Arizona, 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.

He was released without bail on Saturday night, Dillon said.

Besides the two firearms, police said they seized other evidence during early morning searches of two residences, Lt. Clint Nichols said.

"It was evidence of a crime that was committed," Nichols said. "And I believe we recovered some clothing that the individual was wearing in the commission of the robbery."

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 involved in the alleged robbery, has said he wants the case dropped and that he's "on O.J.'s side."

Nichols said police had a responsibility to investigate how the collectibles were taken, regardless of who they belong to.

"We don't believe that anybody was roughed up, but there were firearms involved in the commission of the robbery," he said.

[gregstephens]

If the autographed USC authentic Riddell helmet doesn't fit, you must acquit.

[BengalszoneBilly]

If the autographed USC authentic Riddell helmet doesn't fit, you must acquit.

Too bad he's not like Barry Bonds. There's no way his head would fit into his 30 year old helmet!