Simpson named suspect in armed robbery
Updated: 2007-09-15 17:16
Dillon said investigators were trying to untangle the web of ownership, and that some items had been recovered. He did not say which ones.
"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.
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 a lawsuit.
"I'm OK. I'm shaken up," Beardsley told the AP by phone. He said 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," police spokesman Jose Montoya said.
The Las Vegas district attorney's office will decide whether to pursue charges in the casino case. Both Beardsley and Simpson indicated 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.
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