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THE ARREST OF O.J. SIMPSON: Arraignment set

Prosecutors file charges, including kidnapping, in armed robbery



Photo by John Locher.









Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department.



Photo by Craig L. Moran.

When Las Vegas police knocked on O.J. Simpson's hotel room door at the Palms Sunday morning, he was expecting them.

He had been questioned in the armed robbery at Palace Station three days earlier, so after police arrested another man in the case Saturday night, Simpson prepared for the inevitable, according to an arrest report obtained by the Review-Journal.

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  • Sitting in a police car with cuffs on, Simpson said "he knew that he would be arrested soon, so that this was not a real surprise to him," the report said.

    The arrest report was filed Tuesday with Las Vegas Justice Court in support of the 11 criminal charges prosecutors pressed against Simpson, Walter Alexander, Clarence Stewart and Michael McClinton. All four men were charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, coercion with a deadly weapon, two counts of first-degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon, burglary and several counts of conspiracy.

    McClinton, a 53-year-old Las Vegas resident, was the last of the four men to be arrested after surrendering to police Tuesday afternoon.

    Detectives were still searching for two unidentified men seen on hotel camera footage carrying boxes that police believe had some of the collectibles taken during the robbery.

    Simpson, who was at the Clark County Detention Center without bail, will appear in Justice Court this morning for an arraignment on the charges stemming from the Thursday evening heist at Palace Station.

    The 60-year-old Heisman Trophy winner will be represented by his Florida lawyer, Yale Galanter, and Las Vegas lawyer Gabriel Grasso. On his Web site, Galanter describes himself as a popular television guest and legal expert who has been interviewed in newspapers and on television about the Kobe Bryant rape case, the Scott Peterson murder case and other national court cases. Grasso has represented defendants in the 311 Boyz gang violence case and the recent case of a Chinese acrobat troupe leader accused of human trafficking.

    Simpson's legal team will face off with District Attorney David Roger and Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Owens, two experienced prosecutors who have handled some of Las Vegas' most high-profile cases, including the first Ted Binion murder trial and the Laughlin River Run riot.

    The prosecution already suffered one potential setback Tuesday when Bruce Fromong, a crucial witness in the case, was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital after a heart attack. He was listed in critical condition.

    Fromong, 53, and fellow memorabilia collector Alfred Beardsley, 45, told police they had gone to Palace Station on Thursday to meet a prospective buyer interested in Fromong's collection of Simpson memorabilia. The meeting was arranged by Thomas Riccio, a California auction house owner who contacted Beardsley about the buyer, the report said.

    Beardsley, from Burbank, Calif., called Fromong, a North Las Vegas resident who once worked for Simpson and was looking to sell some of his collection, the report said.

    Fromong, who didn't know Riccio, showed up with the memorabilia expecting to meet a legitimate buyer.

    Fromong was greeted by six angry men and two handguns instead, according to authorities.

    The robbers burst into Room 1203, shouting profanities and barking orders.

    One yelled, "I'm a cop and you're lucky this ain't L.A. or you'd be dead," and frisked Fromong and Beardsley, according to the report.

    Meanwhile, Simpson yelled at Fromong and Beardsley, whom he knew.

    "I thought you were my friend," Simpson said. "Give me my (expletive) back."

    The suspects used pillowcases and boxes to collect the memorabilia spread on the bed.

    The collection included dozens of Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Duke Snider and Pete Rose, and an array of Simpson-signed footballs and plaques. Fromong told police the collection was worth $80,000 to $100,000.

    The robbers also took Beardsley's baseball cap and sunglasses, which were sitting on the bed, and Simpson snatched Fromong's cell phone from his hand, the report said.

    When he was interviewed by police, Riccio said he knew Simpson was going into the room to take the collectibles, but he didn't know guns would be involved, according to the report.

    "He explained he was told that the property belonged to Simpson, and that Simpson just wanted to confront Fromong and get his property back," the report stated.

    Police have said Riccio could face charges in connection to the armed robbery.

    Riccio already has served eight years in prison for several felony convictions in California, according to Internet records.

    Detectives called Simpson on Friday, the day after the incident, and he agreed to talk. He greeted them warmly at his room.

    "C'mon in," Simpson said with a wave before shaking each of the five detectives' hands and thanking them for coming, the report said.

    Simpson then asked two women who had been in the room with him to leave.

    "They did so, leaving just Mr. Simpson, a small dog and Detectives in the room," police wrote in the report.

    During the interview with police, Simpson defended his actions while lashing out at Fromong, Beardsley and Mike Gilbert, a former associate whom he believed stole the memorabilia from him, the report said.

    "My All-American ball! I would never give that away!" Simpson told police. "They were all sitting on the bed. I would never give Mike this stuff."

    He also denied using physical force or committing a crime, the report stated.

    "As pissed off as I was with them, it wasn't that type of thing," he told police. "If these guys were legit, they would have got big bucks on the Internet" for the merchandise.

    Simpson has said publicly that the memorabilia was stolen from a storage locker by Gilbert, who admitted to taking Simpson's Heisman Trophy and other items because the football legend owed him money, according to news reports.

    Gilbert later gave the goods to authorities, the reports said.

    Las Vegas police got a break in their case late Friday night from a woman who said she was an old friend of Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson. The woman said one of the men involved in the caper, Alexander, had a one-way ticket to Phoenix the next day, the report said.

    The tipster said Alexander was a golfing buddy of Simpson who supplied the guns for the robbery, the report said.

    Detectives staked out the Southwest Airlines check-in counter at McCarran International Airport on Saturday afternoon and spotted Alexander, whom they recognized from Palace Station surveillance video. Alexander seemed to know what they wanted and agreed to talk, the report said.

    "The memorabilia isn't in my bag," he told police at the airport.

    Alexander, 47, of Mesa, Ariz., spoke briefly with detectives before calling his lawyer and clamming up. Detectives arrested him and took him to jail.

    That night, police searched the Las Vegas Valley homes of McClinton and Stewart, 49.

    McClinton has a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and at his house police found two handguns, a .22-caliber Beretta and .45-caliber Ruger, that matched the descriptions of the weapons alleged to have been used in the robbery. Police also found suits that matched one worn by one of the suspects, the report said.

    At Stewart's house police found a shirt matching one worn by another suspect, the report said.

    With the evidence in hand, detectives decided they had enough to arrest Simpson. He went along without a fight when police showed up at his room.

    Police cuffed Simpson and sneaked him out of the Palms to an unmarked patrol car. On the drive to the detective bureau, "Simpson kept saying he didn't do anything wrong and he was just getting his property back and that he knew these people and some were his friends," according to the report.

    "He also said he came to Vegas and 'look what happened, I got arrested,' " the report said.

    Review-Journal staff writer David Kihara and the Associated Press contributed to this report.



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    Attorney Watch Dod wrote on November 20, 2007 12:48 PM: Scott Holper should have his attorney license revoked before he causes any further harm to the public. It's a sad day when you can't go after a bad attorney who may get his license back in years to come, only because they are doing his dad a favor.


    scottfree wrote on November 19, 2007 04:12 PM: Glanter never filed a complaint against Nevada Attorney Scott Holper. He was just jealous that Holper dresses better than him.


    Dakota wrote on November 09, 2007 08:33 PM: Humm. Should Gabe, or one who knows him, read this -- I would be most interested to know if he's given up writing screen plays, re-enacting the Civil War and teaching. My very best to he and his family.

    Fondly from a most appreciative former student.


    Cop4life wrote on October 25, 2007 09:21 AM: As suspected, Oj's attorney Galanter NEVER filed a complaint against Scott Holper with the Nevada Bar. OJ's daughter even called Scott Holper to apologize for Galanters remarks and thank him for his help.


    Ann wrote on October 03, 2007 11:13 PM: The Las Vegas Justice System is corrupt. The lawyers are already
    acting like fools because in Vegas the laws are bent and the payoffs
    are prevalent. Look at the D.A. David Rogers, who sites O.J. for
    kidnapping??? What is that...Is D.A. Rogers retarded??? While I
    think O.J. is a murderer, justice should have been handled
    professionally instead of the circus court hearing we all witnessed.
    A little about D.A. Rogers, he is threatening former commissioner
    Lynette Boggs with "twenty years" in prison for living 100 feet
    outside her commission district, and for paying her babysitter $1,200
    with campaign funds. Rogers is known to have taken $50K in bribe money
    but claims he returned it when there is no evidence of that. This same
    D.A. refused to prosecute Erin Kenny, Dario Herrera, Mary Kincaid
    Chauncy, and Lance Malone for much worse crimes. He also refused to
    prosecute the person who broke Kirk Henry's neck and the persons who
    beat Scott David Fau to death in our local exotic dance club
    CrazyHorse II. The ones he let go or slapped on the wrist were
    white...Ms. Boggs and O.J. are black. You do the math.


    cd wrote on September 20, 2007 08:07 AM: the Scriptures do say that as a dog returneth to his vomit, so fool returneth to his folly. though we may have definite and strong opinions about oj's involvement with the death of those people, we cannot know for sure. but God knows. and keeps account. and oj seems to continually return to folly, which may result in punishment of one type or another. so if he 'got off' for a crime he DID commit, even though man has not seen fit to condemn him, the follies of his life may lead him to finally gain that punishment nonetheless.


    Remy wrote on September 19, 2007 10:40 PM: Scott Holper is lucky the Nevada Bar is full of lazy lawyers, which is why they are at the Bar. His conduct requires discipline.

    OJ is lucky to have Gabe Grasso, who is smart and presentable, unlike the other media hungry lawyers usually seen by the nation, who regrettably give the impression that all Las Vegas lawyers are slick, hair-gelled, wide pinstripe wearing goombas. Gabe Grasso is a stellar attorney, and unlike the high profile Las Vegas attorneys who get all the publicity, actually has won a trial by getting all not guiltys.


    TrialGod wrote on September 19, 2007 10:37 PM: In my opinion, Scott Holper was inarticulate, mixed his metaphors, and made no sense. He has only 14 cases to his name, and has never done a trial, and I am unaware of him ever having done a preliminary hearing. His little publicity stunt is evidence of the type of lawyer being produced today. Holper has probably never read the rules of professional conduct prohibiting solicitation of clients.

    Scott Holper's threat to fight Yale Galanter at Johnny Tocco's is further evidence of his childish tendencies.


    RJC Insider wrote on September 19, 2007 10:33 PM: Scott Holper improperly solicited a client. Who cares who his parents are? His dad got his medical degree from Guyana or Mexico, either way he could not get into a U.S. medical school. Unless OJ or someone connected to OJ asked Holper to visit him, he should be sanctioned by the Bar.


    jam wrote on September 19, 2007 10:09 PM:
    Here they go again.We all know if it were not O.J. no one would care about this.Just another bunch of misfits going after money.FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY.The Goldmans,News Media,The Misfits,lawyers,Publishers etc.They`re all in it for the Money.No one cares that 2 people were brutally murdered that started all of this.This man was found not GUILTY of these crimes.Maybe,he did it maybe not.If he did he will have to answer for that.What we need to think about is how others are gaining from all this not O.J.Greedy people know the name O.J.brings attention and there is money to be made.Again,FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY.A lot of people say they hate O.J.but do they really.


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