OJ says he was reclaiming sports memorabilia

OJ Simpson’s arrest may be the start of a new legal odyssey for the fallen American football star and actor, one that could reopen the possibility of prison time more than a decade after his acquittal on murder charges.

Police arrested Simpson yesterday, saying he was part of an armed group that burst into a Las Vegas hotel room and snatched memorabilia that documented his career.

Simpson said it was merely a confrontation with no guns.

He said autographed sports collectibles, his Hall of Fame certificate, a photograph with former FBI director J Edgar Hoover and video from his first wedding were all his, and that they were stolen from him and were about to be fenced by unethical collectors.

Police said they were not sure who owned the memorabilia.

But they say the manner in which the goods were taken was under investigation.

“Whether or not the property belonged to Mr Simpson is still in debate,” Lt Clint Nichols said yesterday.

“Having said that, the manner in which this property was taken, we have a responsibility to look into that, regardless of who the property belonged to.”

After being whisked away in handcuffs, Simpson was booked at the county jail last night on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary with a firearm, police said.

The district attorney said he expected Simpson to ultimately be charged with seven felonies and one gross misdemeanour.

If convicted of the booking charges, Simpson would face up to 30 years in state prison on each robbery count alone.

A judge ordered Simpson be held without bail, Sgt John Loretto said. A court date was set for Thursday.

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said last night that he would fight the 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,” Galanter said.

Simpson was taken away from The Palms hotel-casino by plainclothes officers yesterday morning, a day after the arrest of a golfing buddy who police say accompanied him with a gun in the Thursday night hold-up.

Handcuffed and wearing a golf shirt and jeans, Simpson was placed in a police car.

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

Simpson, 60, said 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 murdered 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 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,” police Lt Clint Nichols said.

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 memorabilia at private residences yesterday morning after serving three search warrants.

Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., was arrested on 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.

Alexander, who was described as one of Simpson’s golfing buddies, was released without bail on Saturday night.

“Walter was one of the two subjects who had a gun,” Dillon said.

Robert Dennis Rentzer, a Los Angeles lawyer representing Alexander, said he was able to arrange his client’s release from custody, but was not familiar with the allegations.

Police are seeking four other men: Las Vegas residents Clarence Stewart, 53, and Michael McClinton, 49; Tom Scotto, of unknown age and hometown, and another man who was not identified.

Simpson, an ex-NFL star and actor, lives near Miami and has been a tabloid staple since his ex-wife and Goldman were killed. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges, but a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death civil suit.

Goldman’s father, Ron Goldman, welcomed the possibility that Simpson could go to prison.

“He’s believed for years, decades, that he’s entitled to do anything he wants, and the legal system and society has basically agreed with him,” Goldman said. “This time, hopefully, he’ll get what he deserves. He’ll get jail time.”

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 men he met at a wedding cocktail party, and they took the collectibles.

“It’s like a bad dream,” said Alfred Beardsley, one of the memorabilia collectors who was in the hotel room. “I’m sad that OJ is in custody.”

Beardsley said he blames the whole thing on Riccio, who he claims told Simpson that his property was in the room in Las Vegas.

“If they don’t charge Riccio I will be very upset. That guy lied to OJ and got him all pumped up,” he said.

Beardsley said the people that should be blamed are Riccio and Mike Gilbert, the former Simpson agent who he alleged stole memorabilia from Simpson.

Simpson’s arrest came just days after the Goldman family published a book that Simpson had written under the title If I Did It about how he would have committed the killings of his ex-wife and Goldman 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.

During the weekend, the book was the hottest seller in the US, hitting No. 1 on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.