O.J. Simpson charged with seven felonies...

[Natston]

Prosecutors on Tuesday filed numerous criminal charges against former NFL star O.J. Simpson and three other men in connection with an alleged armed robbery at a Las Vegas hotel last week.

The 11 charges include two counts of first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon; two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon; and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors say Simpson and his co-defendants -- Walter Alexander, Clarence Stewart and Michael McClinton -- committed kidnapping because they intended to hold or detain the two alleged victims using a weapon.

One of the alleged victims, Bruce Fromong, suffered a major heart attack and was in critical condition Tuesday at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the hospital said.

Fromong, 53, was admitted to the hospital Monday night and is in the intensive care unit, according to a hospital statement.

Earlier, Fromong told the celebrity Web site TMZ.com that Simpson and other men came into a hotel room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino and demanded that items belonging to Simpson be returned.

The other alleged victim, Alfred Beardsley, said he thought the whole thing was a law enforcement operation.

"They came into that room like policemen or military style people," Beardsley said on CNN's "Larry King Live" Monday night.

"They were well dressed. It was a takeover situation and they knew what they were doing. I thought they were involved in law enforcement or the FBI," Beardsley said of the incident Thursday.

Simpson, 60, was arrested Sunday and booked on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of armed burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary, Las Vegas police Capt. James Dillon said.

Prior to his arrest, Simpson said he was merely retrieving items belonging to him, and that no guns were involved.

Police said Simpson orchestrated the incident and the suspects had at least two firearms, which authorities recovered during searches.

Simpson was being held without bail.

Alexander, 46, was arrested Saturday in connection with the incident and released without bail.

Stewart was booked Monday night on six counts of robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy. He posted bail early Tuesday morning and was released, the Clark County Detention Facility said.

Beardsley told Larry King he was contacted last month by Thomas Riccio, who said he had a client who wanted to buy some high-end O.J. Simpson items and would pay top dollar for them.

Beardsley then called Fromong, a Simpson acquaintance, who gave him a list of items he could provide.

Although the items Fromong mentioned were in the room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino on Thursday, Beardsley said he himself did not purchase them.

"There's a lot of controversy about who is owner of the items right now," Beardsley said. "I'd rather let a judge decide who is the owner, (but) they were in mine and Bruce Fromong's possession."

That ownership will be disputed Tuesday in a court in Los Angeles, as Fred Goldman and his family ask a judge to order Simpson to turn over the items he allegedly stole in the hotel incident.

Beardsley said he was still in shock over the robbery, which he said involved at least two guns.

"This guy came over at gunpoint and ordered me to pack the items up," he said. "I refused. I was told to 'Get the f--- up, get the f--- up.' "

"It was scary. You just wait it out, see what's going to happen. ... It was pretty bad," Beardsley added.

Beardsley also identified Alexander as the man who shouted "Police!" when the group came through the door of the hotel room.

Alexander agreed to talk to prosecutors "on the condition that nothing he said could or would be used against him," according to his attorney, Robert Rentzer.

Police retrieved two firearms after Alexander gave them information that resulted in the issuance of three search warrants, Dillon said Sunday.

Alexander told King he had been friends with Simpson for years and was in Las Vegas to attend the same wedding Simpson planned to attend.

He said he knew "exactly what happened in that situation [the alleged robbery] before, during and after," and he claimed that Simpson was "set up."

"It's very obvious that Thomas Riccio had intentions to set O.J. up, and that's what happened," he said.

According to a recording that TMZ.com claims came from the incident, Simpson walked into the hotel room barking orders and profanities and repeatedly accused someone of stealing his things.

The audio recording on the Web site portrays an angry Simpson ordering people to stay in the hotel room and questioning the person he thinks stole from him.

"Don't let nobody out of this room," Simpson says to one person in the room before directing his ire at one person. "Motherf------, you think you can steal my s--- and sell it?"

Riccio, who is an auctioneer, is the source of the recording, according to TMZ.com.

"Unfortunately, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and now I'm in the middle of this mess and I hate that it happened," Alexander said.

He predicted that this time, Simpson will go to jail for what happened.

"There's been an outcry for him to pay for possible past transgressions," Alexander said

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/18...son/index.html

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Yikes...