Police Arrest Simpson in Robbery Case
CNN
Posted: 2007-09-16 14:54:11
LAS VEGAS (Sept. 16) -- Las Vegas police arrested O.J. Simpson on Sunday amid an investigation into an alleged armed robbery at a hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, a source close to the investigation said.
Seth Browarnik, WireImage.comPolice arrested O.J. Simpson on Sunday in connection with an alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia that took place at a Las Vegas hotel. He had been named a suspect on Friday.
The charges he faces are unclear.
On Saturday, Las Vegas police arrested a man and seized two guns in connection with the alleged armed robbery, the source said.
Simpson had already been questioned during the investigation into several items of sports memorabilia that were taken from collectors at a room in the Palace Station Hotel and Casino. Simpson has said the items belonged to him.
Walter Alexander was arrested Saturday night and charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, one count of conspiracy to commit robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of burglary with a deadly weapon, the source said.
Alexander, a resident of Arizona, was arrested on his way to McCarran International Airport, the source said.
During searches Saturday, police recovered two guns they believe were used in the alleged robbery, the source said. Watch a report on the latest developments in the probe >
"I don't know why they arrested him," Simpson said Sunday. "I've stayed in contact with the police and the truth will come out."
Simpson, 60, acknowledged that he entered the man's room with a group of friends, one of whom was posing as a potential buyer, after being tipped off that some of his personal items were for sale there.
Among the items were things he hadn't seen in years or that had been stolen, he said. They included photographs of his family and himself as a child, and photographs and negatives taken by his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. Simpson said friends helped him carry the items from the room, but no guns were involved and the incident was not a robbery.
On Saturday, Simpson said that he and one of the alleged victims, Alfred Beardsley, spoke by telephone and agreed the incident had been blown out of proportion.
Beardsley confirmed the conversation to celebrity Web site TMZ.com, saying Simpson apologized to him and told him he regretted the incident.
The other alleged victim, Bruce Fromong, a sports memorabilia collector, said that two of the men accompanying Simpson pointed guns at the other occupants of the room in what he described as "a home invasion-type robbery." Watch Fromong talk about what happened
Fromong testified for Simpson's defense in the 1997 wrongful death trial stemming from a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Ron Goldman, who was killed in 1994 alongside Simpson's ex-wife.
Simpson was acquitted of the murders in 1995, but the jury in a 1997 civil trial found him liable and awarded the Goldmans $33.5 million for their son's wrongful death.
Fromong testified that prices for Simpson memorabilia had dropped substantially since the 1995 verdict. His testimony was part of the defense's contention that Simpson could not afford to pay the Goldmans.
Also on Friday, Thomas Riccio, a former business associate of Simpson, told KVVU television in Las Vegas that he told Simpson about the sale.
Riccio said someone had told him last month that he wanted to auction some of Simpson's possessions by placing them on consignment. Riccio added that, when he called Simpson to tell him about the planned sale, the former athlete told him the items had been stolen.
Riccio said that, as he was being shown the items in the hotel room, Simpson entered the room and seized the items. He said there was no break-in and no gun was used.
Simpson's ex-wife and Goldman -- a waiter who had gone to her Los Angeles, California, home to return a pair of glasses -- were fatally stabbed outside her Brentwood townhouse on June 12, 1994. A jury found Simpson not guilty of the crimes.
Simpson recently wrote a book originally titled "If I Did It" and had planned to publish it himself, but a public outcry led to the cancellation of his book deal.
A bankruptcy judge subsequently awarded the Goldmans the rights to the book in light of their inability to collect the wrongful death award. They retitled the book "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer," which is in bookstores.
2007-09-14 10:16:10
