No bail for OJ after arrest

Police have arrested OJ Simpson after an armed group allegedly burst into a US hotel room and snatched memorabilia that documented his sports career.

The star was arrested yesterday, more than a decade after he was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife and a friend.

Simpson was taken away from The Palms casino-hotel in Las Vegas by plain-clothes officers a day after the arrest of a golfing buddy who police allege accompanied him with a gun in the Thursday night hold-up.

Simpson was handcuffed and later ordered by a judge to be held without bail, police said.

“He was very co-operative, there were no issues,” police spokesman James Dillon said.

Simpson was held at the Clark County detention centre last night 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 face 8 charges.

If convicted, Simpson could 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 mementoes 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 OJ”

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 spokesman, 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 yesterday on three search warrants. But “whether or not the property belonged to Mr Simpson is a matter of debate,” Nichols said.

Police said yesterday that Simpson asked to speak with his lawyer before proceeding with an interview, although he spoke several times with investigators before his arrest. The lawyer, 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.