OJ accuser wants case dropped

A US sports memorabilia collector who accused OJ Simpson of armed robbery has now said he is “on OJ’s side” and wants the case dropped.

“I want this thing to go away. I have health problems,” said Alfred Beardsley, the collector who told police on Thursday that Simpson and several other men stormed a Las Vegas hotel room and stole memorabilia at gunpoint.

Mr Beardsley, of Burbank, California, told The Associated Press this morning that he is not interested in pursuing the case.

“I have no desire to fly back and forth to Las Vegas to testify,” he said. “How are they going to have a witness who’s on OJ’s side?”

Mr Beardsley said he called police only because the items were valuable and if he had not reported them as stolen he would be “held accountable for all the stuff.”

On Friday he said that Simpson had called him to apologise.

A police spokesman said this morning that Mr Beardsley had not formally withdrawn his complaint and that another collector in the room, Bruce Fromong, had not indicated that he wants to drop the complaint.