The Gawkers Remain on Rockingham

O.J. Simpson’s neighbors are less accustomed than most to hosting a media freak show.

For its residents, part of the attraction of Rockingham Drive and its surrounding streets has been the isolation from messy urban scenes of any sort. The price of this tranquillity comes high--the Simpson mansion is estimated to be worth $5 million.

With its manicured lawns, lush landscaping and luxury cars, the neighborhood whispers wealth. It even smells good: The night air at this time of year is filled with the scent of night-blooming jasmine--an odd sensory counterpoint to the thwacking blades of news helicopters overhead the night O.J. was holed up in the driveway of his mansion.

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THE LOOKY-LOOS: Since the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman, the neighborhood has been invaded not only by media hordes, but also by the hoi polloi. Some pose for photos standing in front of O.J.’s gates, which are festooned with hand-lettered signs, mostly of support for the former football star. The signs are wildly incongruent with their upscale surroundings.

On Friday night, just after O.J. had arrived home in what would be the end of the freeway pursuit of him, carful after carful of looky-loos parked on Brentwood side streets. People ran at breakneck speed, some with tots in tow, to get as close as the police would allow to the scene in Simpson’s driveway.

Since then, the steady stream of gawkers has not abated. They’re even debating the merits of the case out there: One day this week, a woman screamed at a man, who posted a sign unfriendly to O.J. The two got into a verbal sparring match that escalated when several others joined in.

O.J.’s neighbors are coping as best they can. One man said the situation made him feel vulnerable. “It’s a whole world falling apart in a second,” said the neighbor, who did not want his name used.

As for their once-tranquil enclave, the neighbor said: “This used to be a low-profile area. Not anymore.”