Katie
09-16-2007, 06:17 PM
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- O.J. Simpson will be charged with a total of six counts of robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy, Las Vegas police announced Sunday.
O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday in relation to an armed robbery investigation, a source told CNN.
Simpson was arrested at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas in connection with an alleged armed robbery, police said.
On Saturday, Las Vegas police arrested Walter Alexander and seized two guns in connection with the incident, a source told CNN earlier Sunday.
"I don't know why they arrested him," Simpson told CNN before his own arrest. "I've stayed in contact with the police, and the truth will come out."
Simpson already had been questioned during the investigation into several items of sports memorabilia that were taken from collectors in a room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino. Simpson has said the items belonged to him.
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 and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, the source said.
Alexander, a Nevada resident, was arrested on his way to McCarran International Airport, the source said.
During searches Saturday, police recovered two guns they say were used in the alleged robbery, the source said.
Simpson, 60, acknowledged that he entered a 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. Watch a report on the latest developments in the probe ยป
On Saturday, Simpson said that he and one of the alleged victims, Alfred Beardsley, spoke on the telephone with each other 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 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 the 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 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.
O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday in relation to an armed robbery investigation, a source told CNN.
Simpson was arrested at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas in connection with an alleged armed robbery, police said.
On Saturday, Las Vegas police arrested Walter Alexander and seized two guns in connection with the incident, a source told CNN earlier Sunday.
"I don't know why they arrested him," Simpson told CNN before his own arrest. "I've stayed in contact with the police, and the truth will come out."
Simpson already had been questioned during the investigation into several items of sports memorabilia that were taken from collectors in a room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino. Simpson has said the items belonged to him.
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 and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, the source said.
Alexander, a Nevada resident, was arrested on his way to McCarran International Airport, the source said.
During searches Saturday, police recovered two guns they say were used in the alleged robbery, the source said.
Simpson, 60, acknowledged that he entered a 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. Watch a report on the latest developments in the probe ยป
On Saturday, Simpson said that he and one of the alleged victims, Alfred Beardsley, spoke on the telephone with each other 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 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 the 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 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.