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LAS VEGAS - Las Vegas police have arrested former American football star O.J. Simpson in connection with last week's alleged armed robbery at a hotel room in the US gambling haven, CNN said.
A source with the Las Vegas Police Department told CNN Simpson was taken into custody at the Palms hotel.
Las Vegas police spokesman Lt. Jeff Whitehead was not able to confirm that Simpson had been arrested, but said police on Saturday night had arrested a man they believe was with the former star athlete during an alleged break-in last week.
Whitehead declined to comment on reports that police seized two firearms related to the Thursday night incident, which was reported by a sports memorabilia dealer as an armed robbery in his room at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino.
Representatives for the Palms and Simpson's attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
O.J. Simpson has previously told police and the media that he did nothing wrong in Las Vegas.
"I'm not walking around feeling sad or anything. I've done nothing wrong," the former athlete, actor and murder defendant said in an interview published in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.
In 1995, Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in what was one of the most sensational court dramas in US history.
Simpson told the paper that "golfing buddies and some of their friends" accompanied him to a meeting at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino to help him retrieve sports memorabilia, personal photos and other items he said had been stolen by a former sports agent.
Simpson, who is 60 and lives in Florida, said an auctioneer set up the meeting with the sellers. He said the men in his party were unarmed.
"I'm O.J. Simpson. How am I going to think that I'm going to rob somebody and get away with it?" he said. "You've got to understand, this ain't somebody going to steal somebody's drugs or something like that. This is somebody going to get his private (belongings) back. That's it. That's not robbery."
After he was acquitted in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, a civil court jury found Simpson responsible for the deaths and ordered him to pay US$33.5 million ($47.67 million) in damages to their families.
The former National Football League star, who also appeared in films and commercials, has had other minor brushes with police since 1995. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
Simpson's latest legal flap comes as Simpson's book "If I Did It," which includes a hypothetical account of his ex-wife's murder, was hitting store shelves.
- REUTERS
