http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/14/simpson/index.html
Quote:
| Police: Simpson questioned in alleged casino theft (CNN) -- Former college and NFL star running back O.J. Simpson has been questioned as a possible suspect in an alleged theft at a hotel-casino, a Las Vegas, Nevada, police spokesman said Friday. Police say O.J. Simpson has been questioned as a possible suspect in an alleged theft at a casino. The Thursday night incident may have involved an attempted transaction involving Simpson sports memorabilia, according to a TV report. Sgt. John Loretto of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said there was "an allegation of a theft involving Simpson as a suspect." "We haven't arrested him or anything else; the investigation is very preliminary right now," Loretto told CNN Thomas Riccio told CNN affiliate Fox5 News (KVVU) television in Las Vegas that he witnessed what sparked the allegations at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino. Riccio said Simpson was taking back items that he said had been stolen from him, the station reported. Riccio said he received a call about a month ago from someone who wanted to auction some of Simpson's personal possessions by placing them on consignment. Riccio said he called Simpson, with whom he had done business in the past, and the former football player told him the items had been stolen from him, the station said. Riccio said that as he was being shown the items in a hotel room, Simpson entered and seized them, according to the station. Riccio said there was no break-in, and no gun was used, the station said. CNN has been unable to verify Riccio's account independently. Attempts to reach one of Simpson's attorneys was unsuccessful. Lori Nelson, spokeswoman for the hotel, deferred comments to police. Simpson was acquitted in 1995 in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. A civil jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful-death lawsuit, awarding the Goldman family $33.5 million. Simpson has auctioned off some sports collectibles, including his Heisman Trophy, to pay part of the judgment. Nicole Simpson and Goldman were stabbed to death outside her Brentwood, California, home in June 1994. Simpson, who appeared in movies after his football career ended, was arrested soon after the killings but maintained he was "absolutely, 100 percent, not guilty." The Goldman family recently has published a book about the slayings. Simpson wrote the book under the title "If I Did It." However, an outcry led to the cancellation of a book deal for him, and a bankruptcy judge subsequently awarded the Goldmans the rights to the book in light of their inability to collect the wrongful death award. They renamed the book "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer." |
