Nicole Brown Simpson's Friend Faye Resnick Claims O.J. Stalked Her in Bushes

Nicole Brown Simpson made some troubling claims against O.J. Simpson before her death ... so says Faye Resnick, who claims O.J. would lurk in bushes to keep an eye on her.

Faye -- who was a close confidant of Nicole's before her murder -- shed light on NBS and O.J.'s dynamic following their split in a sneak peek from Lifetime's docuseries, "The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson" ... saying her late friend was scared of the NFL star.

As FR puts it ... O.J. had allegedly taken to stalking Nicole in the aftermath of their breakup -- with the American athlete even creeping on her from the bushes at one point.

She added ... "He was kind of spying on her a lot because he was realizing that she was becoming happy. He was, like, stalking. Hiding -- in the bushes. Actually in the bushes."

According to Faye, Nicole warned her friend to be "careful what you say," out of fear of O.J.'s reaction. O.J. and Nicole had a volatile relationship ... O.J. was arrested in 1989 for spousal abuse, later pleading no contest to the charge. Nicole later dropped the charges against him.

After 7 years of marriage, Nicole filed for divorce in 1992, sharing custody of kids Sydney and Justin with O.J. at the time.

Yet, in June 1994, Nicole and her friend, Ron Goldman, were found murdered at her home in Brentwood, California ... and her ex-husband was infamously the main suspect at the time.

Although O.J. was acquitted following a highly publicized murder trial, he was later found liable for her and Ron's deaths in a 1997 civil case -- a judgment for which he largely avoided paying in his lifetime before he died of prostate cancer in April.