O.J. Simpson Suspect In Las Vegas Casino Robbery
Posted September 14, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Simpson was questioned by police Friday about a robbery that took place at the Palace Station Casino on Thursday night, stated police. He is said to be a suspect.
The former football star acknowledged going to the room to get property he said was stolen from him, but denied breaking in.
He says auction house owner Tom Riccio called him several weeks ago to say some collectors “have a lot of your stuff and they don’t want anyone to know they are selling it.”
Simpson, who was in Las Vegas for a friend’s wedding, said he arranged to meet Riccio at the hotel and conducted a “sting operation.”
“Everybody knows this is stolen stuff,” says Simpson. “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.”
Investigators were reviewing the complaint and several other people were also being questioned.
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.
The Las Vegas district attorney’s office will decide whether to pursue charges in the casino case, but had not received police
paperwork by Friday morning, an office assistant said.
His book, a hypothetical, ghost-written account of how Simpson would have committed the 1994 murders of his ex-wife and her boyfriend, hits store shelves on Friday amid a huge amount of controversy.
The book was originally intended to be released last year, but universal negative public reaction forced the publisher to hold off.
The Goldman’s, parents of the murdered boyfriend, sued and won the rights to the book and are publishing it in part to punish Simpson, says Fred Goldman.
“It brings a certain level of satisfaction that we’ve taken something from him,” says Goldman. “I think it also is a recognition for him to know forevermore that we’re going to be after him…to punish him for what he’s done, to get some piece of justice.”
Photo Credit: David McNew/Getty Images
