Alleged O.J. victim: I thought it was a police operation

One of the alleged victims of a purported armed robbery involving former NFL star O.J. Simpson says he thought the whole thing was a police or military operation, judging from the way several well-dressed men burst into a seedy Las Vegas hotel room last week to take sports memorabilia Simpson thought was his.

"They came into that room like policemen or military style people," Alfred 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," said Beardsley of the incident last 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 that belonged 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 is being held without bail and is expected to appear in court Wednesday morning when charges are likely to be filed, Las Vegas Judge Nancy Oesterle said Monday.

Walter Alexander was arrested Saturday in connection with the incident but released without bail.

A third suspect, Clarence 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 that 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 Bruce Fomong, a Simpson acquaintance, who gave him a list of items he could provide.

While the items Fomong 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 Fomong'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 that 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 Walter Alexander as the man who shouted "Police!" when the group came through the door of the hotel room.

Alexander, 46, was arrested Saturday in connection with the alleged robbery but was released on his own recognizance, according to his attorney, Robert Rentzer.

The attorney said Alexander "agreed to be debriefed" by prosecutors "on the condition that nothing he said could or would be used against him."

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

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

According to a recording that a celebrity news Web site claims came from the incident, Simpson walked into the hotel room barking orders and profanities and repeatedly accusing someone of stealing his things.

The audio recording on TMZ.com portrays an angry Simpson ordering people to stay in the hotel room and questioning the audacity of 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 on the person he believes took his things. "Motherf------, you think you can steal my s--- and sell it?"

Alexander told King Monday: "It's very obvious that Thomas Riccio had intentions to set O.J. up and that's what happened."

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

Alexander also confirmed the use of a weapon in the alleged robbery.

"He (Beardsley) was very accurate in the fact that he said he saw one gun," he began, before his lawyer cut him off.

"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 possibly past transgressions," Alexander said.

In court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Goldman will also ask for an order to show cause for contempt because Simpson was ordered to turn over money he was paid for a video game deal and never did.

The family also wants rights to profits from any other sale of Simpson memorabilia in order to satisfy a $33.5 million judgment they won against him in a civil wrongful death lawsuit for the murders of Ron Goldman and Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, in 1994.

Simpson was acquitted of their murders in a criminal court.

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