In brief: Memorabilia dealer suing Simpson

A memorabilia dealer who blames his heart attacks on the stress of being robbed at gunpoint by O.J. Simpson is suing the former football star and five other men who were in the room during the heist, seeking unspecified civil damages.

A lawyer for Bruce Fromong said Monday he intends to show a Nevada jury that his 55-year-old client’s four heart attacks were caused by the emotional stress of the September 2007 robbery in a Las Vegas casino hotel room and its aftermath.

“We think we can prove the causal connection,” said Fromong’s attorney, Elliot Blut.

Fromong, of North Las Vegas, said he is still seeing doctors for physical maladies he blames on the encounter. He said he and his wife, Lynette Fromong, have suffered financially, mentally and physically.

“This has affected our entire life,” Fromong said.

Simpson’s lawyer, Yale Galanter, called the lawsuit frivolous.

“I’m going to fight this guy tooth and nail,” Galanter said from Miami, Fla. “Initially, Fromong said his heart attacks were caused by the news media. Now he’s switching his story and saying O.J. caused it.”

Clark County District Court Judge Jessie Walsh did not immediately set a hearing on the lawsuit filed Friday in Las Vegas.

It names Simpson and convicted co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart as defendants, along with four former co-defendants who were initially charged with Simpson and Stewart but took plea deals and testified for the prosecution. Walter Alexander, Charles Cashmore, Charles Ehrlich and Michael McClinton each pleaded guilty to lesser felonies and received probation.

The lawsuit also names Thomas Riccio – the go-between who arranged the meeting with Fromong and was never charged with a crime.

Gasol leads Spain over Lithuania

Basketball: Los Angeles Lakers star Pau Gasol scored 19 points and had eight rebounds to lead world champion Spain over Lithuania 84-70 in the second round of the European championships in Lodz, Poland.

Trailing 24-15 at the start of the second quarter, Spain guard Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trail Blazers hit a 3-pointer to spark a 25-3 run over the next seven minutes that put Spain ahead 40-27. The world champs continued to get out on the fast break, and led by 24 in the fourth quarter before pulling most of its starters.

Prosecution rests against coach

Football: Prosecutors have rested their case against a Kentucky high school coach charged with reckless homicide in the death of a player who collapsed at practice last year.

Shortly after prosecutors in Louisville, Ky., rested, a judge denied a request by attorneys for former Pleasure Ridge Park coach Jason David Stinson to dismiss the reckless homicide and wanton endangerment charges.

Judge Susan Schultz Gibson said there is enough evidence to let the jury decide the case.

Mayweather sued over luxury sedan

Boxing: Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is being sued by a bank in Las Vegas for more than $167,000 unpaid on a loan for a half-million-dollar luxury car.

Caleb Langsdale, a lawyer for JP Morgan Chase Bank, said in a lawsuit filed last week in Clark County District Court that the former five-division champion bought the Mercedes Maybach 57S in February 2007 and stopped making monthly payments of more than $9,000 a year later.

The bank repossessed the vehicle in January, sold it for $196,000, and is seeking to recoup the difference, the lawsuit said.

Premier League making changes

Miscellany: The Premier League took steps to rein in the soccer clubs’ spending by limiting player purchases and approving more strict financial oversight.

Clubs will only be allowed to have to 17 non-homegrown players, and the Premier League will take temporary control of teams that run into money trouble.

The 20 topflight teams will have to include eight players registered with either an English or Welsh club for three years before their 21st birthdays, which could hold down spending sprees financed by debt and improve player development.

•Amputee runner arrested: Famed amputee runner Oscar Pistorius has been charged with assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a party he hosted in Johannesburg.

Local media are reporting that Pistorius was arrested Saturday night after he tried to intervene in a lover’s tiff.

•Horses quarantined: Fifty-nine horses have been quarantined because of a suspected contagious infection at Hoosier Park racetrack in Anderson, Ind.