SIMPSON’S STATEMENT

Simpson explains actions to judge

During a five-minute apology to District Judge Jackie Glass on Friday, O.J. Simpson explained what drove him to burst into two sports memorabilia collectors’ hotel room at Palace Station on Sept. 13, 2007. Here are excerpts from his statement:

FAMILY TREASURES MISSING: "I wanted my daughter who Miss Brown gave her mother’s wedding ring. Stolen. You know my kids had pictures. My oldest son is married now and has his own family and he wants the picture in the Oval Office with Gerald Ford when he was 5-years-old. Stolen. All of these things were gone."

PROPERTY IN LAS VEGAS: "I called my kids. I talked to my sisters. I called the Brown family and I told them I had a chance to get some of our property back. Property that over the years we’ve seen being sold on the Internet. We’ve seen pictures of ours that were stolen from our home going into the tabloids."

POLICE OFFERED LITTLE HELP: "We’ve called the police and asked what to do. They’ve told us what to try to do, but you can never find out who was selling it, and this was the first time I had an opportunity to catch the guys red-handed who had been stealing from my family."

ONLY HIS STUFF: "I didn’t want to steal anything from anybody. I don’t think anybody dare said that I wanted anybody else’s stuff, just my own."

VICTIMS WERE FRIENDS: "These guys have eaten in my home. I’ve done book reports with their kids. I’ve sung to their mothers when they were sick. You know I wasn’t there to hurt anyone … I thought I was confronting friends and retrieving my property."

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL