O.J. SIMPSON ARRESTED

O.J. Simpson's long fall from grace now includes a Sin City swan dive.

The football legend was arrested Sunday on multiple felony charges in connection with the armed holdup of two sports memorabilia dealers Thursday at Palace Station.

Las Vegas police picked Simpson up about 11 a.m. at the Palms, where he had been staying while in town for a friend's wedding.

There was no white Ford Bronco this time. No police pursuit on the freeway. No holding a gun to his head.

"He cooperated. It was without incident," said Capt. James Dillon, head of the Robbery/Homicide Bureau.

Simpson immediately invoked his right to a lawyer, Dillon said.

The 60-year-old Heisman Trophy winner spent several hours with detectives before they walked him to a vehicle waiting to take him to the Clark County Detention Center. Wearing silver handcuffs and a smirk, Simpson said nothing as he walked past the throng of media cameras gathered in the parking lot outside the detective bureau.

He arrived at the county jail at about 5:15 p.m. in an unmarked police vehicle with tinted windows. Inside he was frisked, fingerprinted, photographed and assigned inmate No. 2648927.

Simpson was booked on charges including burglary with a firearm, conspiracy to commit a crime, and two counts each of robbery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 106 years.

He was being held without bail in a jail isolation cell until his first court hearing Thursday.

Outside the jail in downtown Las Vegas two supporters cheered the former football star.

Wan Ali came from Los Angeles to offer moral support. He held a sign that said "Free O.J." and cheered and called out to Simpson as the unmarked police car drove into the jail.

"It's all about hanging around the right people," Ali said, adding that Simpson was probably just caught up with the wrong crowd. Ali said he planned on renting a room and staying in Las Vegas "til it's over."

Police said Simpson directed the Thursday evening raid on the hotel room where sports memorabilia dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong were robbed at gunpoint. Simpson did not use a gun himself, police said.

The men rushed into the room when one said that he was a cop and that the two dealers would be "dead if they were in L.A.," Dillon said.

The men also patted the victims down looking for weapons. Police do not think any of the men involved are or were police officers, "but they gave that impression," Dillon said.

Fromong, who lives in North Las Vegas, said he had more than $75,000 in memorabilia taken by the robbers, including six or seven footballs and three plaques related to Simpson, with items signed by Joe Montana and baseball greats Duke Snyder and Pete Rose.

Simpson told The Associated Press that he went to the room and took the memorabilia because it had been stolen from him. He denied any guns were involved.

Both collectors had a history with Simpson. Fromong was once a business partner who helped sell merchandise for Simpson, and Beardsley is a longtime collector who owns the suit Simpson wore for the verdict at his murder trial.

Detectives slowed their investigation after learning of the connections, but an anonymous phone call put the investigation at full speed.

The tipster told investigators that Walter Alexander, a 47-year-old from Mesa, Ariz., was involved in the robbery and at McCarran International Airport waiting for a flight Saturday night.

Alexander never made that flight. Police found him and brought him in for questioning. Detectives soon learned details of what happened inside the room.

Dillon said Alexander brandished a gun during the robbery.

Alexander gave police a statement, but only after his lawyer, Robert Rentzer, negotiated an "non-use proffer" that prevents authorities from using any of the statement against Alexander, the Los Angeles lawyer said.

Rentzer said he negotiated his client's release on his own recognizance.

Alexander has not agreed to cooperate with authorities in the future, although that could be a possibility, Rentzer said.

Alexander was scheduled to meet Rentzer today in Los Angeles to discuss the case and legal strategy.

"I told prosecutors we're not going to agree to a plea bargain at this point," Rentzer said. "I may not plea bargain at all if I feel he has a strong case."

Alexander faces robbery, assault, conspiracy and burglary charges.

District Attorney David Roger, who said he is personally handling the Simpson case, said he agreed to the release "for strategic reasons."

With information from Alexander, detectives drew up three search warrants and served them late into Saturday night.

The searches uncovered two guns that detectives think were used in the robbery, Lt. Clint Nichols said. Investigators also recovered items taken during the robbery, including memorabilia signed by Simpson, NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana's cleats and clothes worn by the suspects, Nichols said.

Police were searching Sunday night for the other four men alleged to have been involved.

Dillon named three of them Sunday: Clarence Stewart, 53, of Las Vegas, Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, and Thomas Scotto of Miami. Simpson was in Las Vegas for Scotto's wedding, Dillon said. Except for one minor matter, the suspects have avoided trouble with the law, Dillon said.

"Most of them are clean," he said. "They look like Joe Citizen."

The fourth man was unidentified.

One of the homes searched Saturday was McClinton's. A neighbor on Villa Pintura lane, near Grand Teton and Durango drives, said he hadn't seen McClinton for a few days.

Dillon said the investigation is far from over, though many of the detectives involved have had little or no sleep in the past four days.

"This investigation is still dynamic and still ongoing," Dillon said. "We have a lot of work to do."

Part of the investigation will focus on Thomas Riccio, a California auction house owner who arranged the meeting at Palace Station. Police were considering charges against Riccio, Dillon said.

Riccio, who has made headlines for selling Anna Nicole Smith's diaries, did not return a phone message left at his house Sunday by the Review-Journal.

Police said they are trying to determine how long Simpson schemed with his cohorts about taking the sports memorabilia.

"The longer they planned the more serious the consequences will be," Dillon said.

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter told The Associated Press late Sunday that he would fight the charges vigorously.

"We believe it is an extremely defensible case based on conflicting witness statements, flip-flopping by witnesses and witnesses making deals with the government to flip," Galanter said.

Peter Haven, a lawyer for the Goldman family, noted the irony that Simpson could go to prison for the Palace Station incident after being acquitted of murder charges in the double slaying of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman.

He compared Simpson to infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone, who led a murderous criminal empire but went to prison only after being convicted for tax evasion.

"In the end, it's strange how the wheels of justice work and turn," Haven said. "They seem to be working, albeit slowly, toward the justice that has been evaded."

The Goldmans wanted Simpson punished to fullest extent of the law, Haven said.

"It's a wonderful state," Haven said.

"I hope he (Simpson) gets to know it well."

Review-Journal writers Brian Haynes and David Kihara contributed to this report.