O.J. Simpson jailed in Vegas; accused of violating bail terms

O.J. Simpson was taken into custody Friday in Florida and will spend several days in a Las Vegas jail before a judge hears allegations that he violated terms of his bail in an armed robbery case here, court officials said.

Clark County Dist. Atty. David Roger alleges that in a November voice message, Simpson told his bail bondsman to contact co-defendant Clarence J. Stewart Jr. and pass along his frustration about testimony at the hearing in which Simpson, Stewart and a third man were ordered to stand trial.

“I just want, want C. J. to know that . . . I’m tired of this [expletive],” Simpson is quoted as saying in a transcript included in Roger’s motion to revoke bail, filed Friday. “Fed up with [expletive] changing what they told me. All right?”

Simpson had been instructed by Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure in September not to have any contact with anyone involved in the case -- not even by “carrier pigeon.”

Simpson’s bail bondsman took him into custody and delivered him to Clark County Jail on Friday evening. The bail bond company revoked the former football star’s bond, said Officer Ramon Denby, a Las Vegas police spokesman.

Simpson was to go before a judge Wednesday.

WSVN-TV in Miami showed video of Simpson walking through Miami International Airport near an American Airlines counter Friday. He was wearing a golf visor, golf shirt and jeans, talking on a cellphone while a man accompanied him.

“I can’t talk to you guys. I cannot talk to you guys,” Simpson said before boarding the plane.

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter did not return phone messages seeking comment. A bail bondsman at You Ring We Spring Bail Bonds in North Las Vegas declined to comment.

Simpson was freed Sept. 19 on $125,000 bail after his Sept. 16 arrest on charges that he and several friends burst into a Las Vegas hotel room several days earlier and robbed two memorabilia dealers at gunpoint.

Simpson has maintained that he was retrieving items that belonged to him. He and the two other men are scheduled to stand trial April 7.

Roger alleges that Simpson left the voice message meant for Stewart with bail bondsman Miguel Pereira on Nov. 16, two days after Bonaventure ruled that Simpson, Stewart and Charles B. Ehrlich should stand trial on 12 charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery.

Stewart’s attorney, Jose Pallares, said Friday he had no knowledge that Simpson’s message ever got to Stewart.

Simpson, Stewart and Ehrlich each pleaded not guilty Nov. 28 to kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, coercion and conspiracy charges. A kidnapping conviction could bring a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

Three other former defendants testified against Simpson.