Probe Finds Simpson Did Not Get Free Use of City Golf Cart

The mystery over whether O.J. Simpson received special favors while playing at Hansen Dam Golf Course has been solved, city parks officials said Wednesday.

The verdict: He’s innocent.

Last week, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon alleged that the municipal golf course in Pacoima twice provided Simpson with a free extra golf cart so his bodyguard could follow along to chase away autograph hounds.

But an official with the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department said that records from the Hansen Dam golf facility show that Simpson paid the $20 rental fee for the extra carts.

“There were absolutely no golf carts given to him. We’ve verified that,” said Dick Ginevan, the city’s golf and parks program manager. The carts are owned by a private concessionaire, with a portion of each rental going to the city. The parks department investigation followed a volley of angry letters and telephone calls between city officials last week.

At the time, Alarcon said that Jim Andervich, an assistant general manager of the parks department, had mentioned the alleged impropriety during a casual conversation. The councilman faxed a letter to parks commissioners expressing his “outrage.”

Andervich said that Alarcon misunderstood him.

“In all honesty, both of us were talking and neither one of us were listening to each other,” Andervich said. “From there, it went haywire.”

On Wednesday, the councilman expressed satisfaction with the parks department’s findings, saying: “I’m glad that the investigation shows that there was nothing improper there.”

The dust-up was the latest in a string of controversies dogging Simpson and his golf game. During his criminal trial on double murder charges, Simpson’s defense team asserted that he was chipping balls at the time of the killings. After his acquittal, some members of the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades lobbied to have his membership revoked.