O.J. Simpson denies Vegas robbery; will be questioned today
O.J. Simpson is a suspect in an alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia in a Las Vegas casino hotel room and will be interviewed by authorities later today, police said.
The former football star has not been arrested or charged with any crime and he is cooperating with authorities, Las Vegas police Capt. James Dillon said at a news conference.
Simpson has denied wrongdoing.
"Thursday night just before 8 p.m., Las Vegas police responded to a call of a person as a victim of an armed robbery at the Palace Station casino," Dillon said. "The victim stated that one of the suspects involved in the robbery was O.J. Simpson. The items that were taken were various sports-related products."
The items were in a hotel room at the casino, authorities said, adding that although they had seized many of the items they could not describe them.
Simpson told the Associated Press that the memorabilia were his and that he entered the room without breaking in to retrieve the items.
AP reported that auction house owner Tom Riccio called Simpson weeks ago to tell him that a few collectors had his memorabilia and that the pair arranged to meet while Simpson was in Las Vegas for a friend's wedding.
"Everybody knows this is stolen stuff," Simpson told AP. "Not only wasn't there a break-in, but Riccio came to the lobby and escorted us up to the room. In any event, it's stolen stuff that's mine. Nobody was roughed up."
Simpson, who lives in Florida, was questioned and released in the hours after the robbery but will be formally questioned before the end of the day, police said.
"There was no hesitation on his part to cooperate and immediately meet with police," Dillon said.
Calls to one of Simpson's attorney's in Florida, Yale L. Galanter, were not returned today.
Police said they expected to speak soon with everyone involved in the incident. They will then give a report to the district attorney, who will decide if any charges should be filed.
Simpson's turmoil comes a day after the family of Ron Goldman published a book about the slayings of Goldman and Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. The two were killed in 1994, and Simpson was acquitted of criminal murder charges. He was found liable for their deaths in civil lawsuits.
The book was written by Simpson and originally titled "If I Did It," but after his publishing deals fell through, the Goldman family bought the rights to the book and subsequently published it as "If I Did It: The Confessions of the Killer."
ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com
