Prosecutors file charges aganist O.J. Simpson
September 18, 2007
LAS VEGAS — Prosecutors filed charges Tuesday against O.J. Simpson, alleging the fallen football star committed seven felonies, including kidnapping, in the armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in a casino-hotel room.
Simpson was arrested Sunday after a collector reported a group of armed men charged into his room and took items Simpson claimed belonged to him.
Simpson, 60, was booked on suspicion of assault and robbery with a deadly weapon. District Attorney David Roger filed those charges and added kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to court documents.
Simpson, who was accused along with three other men, faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted in the robbery at the Palace Station casino. He was being held without bail and was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
According to the charges, Simpson and the others went to the hotel room under the pretext of brokering a deal with the men. Once in the room, Simpson prevented one of the collectors from calling 911 on his cell phone “by ripping it out of Bruce Fromong’s hand” while one or more accomplices pointed or displayed a handgun.
Simpson has insisted he was not armed and that he went to the hotel simply to retrieve property that had been stolen from him.
“You can’t rob something that is yours,” Galanter said. “O.J. said, ‘You’ve got stolen property. Either you return it or I call the police.'”