Las Vegas, Nevada - Former American football star OJ Simpson was being held in a Las Vegas jail Monday after he allegedly organized an armed raid to recover memorabilia he believed had been stolen from him. The notorious figure, who was cleared of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, in 1995, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of burglary with a firearm and conspiracy to commit burglary.
The most serious counts carry maximum sentences of up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Simpson, 60, was due to be held in jail until Thursday but his lawyer was expected to file an emergency motion for his release on bail.
The alleged robbery involved sports memorabilia taken by force Thursday from a room at the Palace Station Casino. In interviews since the incident, Simpson has said he was reclaiming property that had previously been stolen from him.
Bruce Fromong, one of the memorabilia dealers in the room and a former friend of Simpson, told US network ABC that Simpson was accompanied by two armed men when he burst into the room but that he himself never wielded a gun. Fromong said Simpson and his cohorts initially said they were customers, looking to buy memorabilia.
"The door burst open, and in came, running in, almost commando-style, OJ Simpson and some of his people, with guns drawn," Fromong said. "And OJ at that time was saying, 'I want my stuff. I want my stuff.'"
An audiotape of the incident released Monday by celebrity news site TMZ.com portrayed Simpson detaining the men in the room in an expletive-filled tirade.
"Don't let nobody out of the room (expletive). Think you can steal my (expletive) and sell it?" he was heard saying.
Simpson, 60, had been questioned Friday by police, who said at the time that he was cooperating. He was taken into custody Sunday without incident and immediately invoked his right to a lawyer and right against self-incrimination, Las Vegas police said.
Simpson's double-murder trial over the 1994 stabbings of his ex- wife and friend became a worldwide spectacle. Despite extensive genetic evidence against him, Simpson was acquitted in 1995 in the criminal trial, but held financially liable for their deaths in a lawsuit two years later.
The murder case, in which most Americans believe he should have been found guilty, ended Simpson's careers as a football commentator, Hollywood actor and corporate pitchman. Since then, he is believed to have supported himself by selling both signed memorabilia and personal possessions, even including the suit that he wore in court for the jury's acquittal.
Simpson's arrest coincided with the release of the book "If I Did It: The Confessions of the Killer" which was originally touted as Simpson's hypothetical account of the infamous incident. A public outcry forced publishers to cancel the release and a judge later transferred rights to the book to the Goldman family. The book was the top seller over the weekend on online book seller Amazon.com.
