Cops Block O.J.'s Last Rush

LOS ANGELES -- O.J. Simpson, the football great who rose from the mean streets of San Francisco to international celebrity, has been arrested for the murders of his ex-wife and a male friend after leading police on a gripping two-hour chase through the rush-hour freeways of Southern California. The dramatic capture of one of the best-known public figures in America came shortly before 9 P.M. Friday, about 10 hours after he was to have turned himself in to Los Angeles police.On Monday, Simpson was being held in a Los Angeles jail, charged with murder in the stabbings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. He was scheduled for arraignment Monday afternoon. Simpson has insisted he is innocent. The district attorney said Sunday he believes Simpson may admit killing his ex-wife and her friend but claim he was not responsible for his actions. "It's going to be a likely defense here, I believe, once the evidence is reviewed by the lawyers," District Attorney Gil Garcetti told ABC News on Sunday. The football Hall of Famer spent Sunday under a suicide watch in his cell at the Men's Central Jail, "depressed and sad," said his lawyer, Robert Shapiro. Simpson was visited by a psychiatrist as fans flooded the jail switchboard with calls seeking an address. Shapiro said after Friday's long car chase that Simpson, 46, had agreed to surrender earlier that day, but bolted at the last minute with Al Cowlings, a longtime friend and former teammate at the University of Southern California and the Buffalo Bills. A massive manhunt involving scores of law enforcement officers ended in the cobblestone driveway of Simpson's mansion, as Los Angeles Police Department officers in bulletproof vests converged on the white Ford Bronco in which Simpson and Cowlings apparently had fled. For nearly an hour, a distraught Simpson sat alone inside the truck, reportedly cradling a blue-steel revolver and demanding to speak to his mother. Hundreds of supporters gathered in the upscale neighborhood, chanting "Free O.J.," and rocking police cars. Meanwhile, Special Weapons and Tactics Team officers and negotiators surrounded the house, eventually coaxing Simpson out of the vehicle. He put the gun down and emerged about 8:50 P.M. carrying two framed pictures of his children. He was transported by police motorcade to police headquarters for booking and then transported to Men's Central Jail. The dramatic arrest, broadcast live on national television, capped a tragic weeklong drama that began with the slayings of Simpson's 35-year-old ex-wife and Goldman, a 25-year-old Brentwood waiter whom she knew. They were found stabbed to death early June 13 outside her home. Police sources said the two were slain sometime after 10 P.M. June 12, as her two small children slept inside. By Friday, detectives had concluded their case, recommending that Simpson be charged with two counts of first-degree murder. The charges, which include a "special circumstance" of multiple killings, could bring him the death penalty if he is convicted. (LAT, AP)