OJ’s white Bronco car chase that stunned the nation: How star hid in back of Ford SUV with gun to head as LAPD chased him for 90 minutes along freeway with cheering crowds
Almost 30 years ago, a 90-minute police chase began that would grip America and the world.
OJ Simpson, whose death was announced today after a battle with cancer, was wanted by the LAPD on suspicion of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.
Two days after the fatal stabbings on June 12, 1994, OJ led police on a 90-minute low-speed car chase in his friend’s white Ford Bronco.
The infamous car chase saw driver Al Cowlings carry fleeing murder suspect OJ Simpson down the 405 freeway in Low Angeles, California, while Americans were glued to their television screens watching the standoff. The fugitive cowered in the back seat of his Cowlings’ Bronco with a gun to his head as police, media and fans followed him – like a freeway parade.
There were crowds on the overpass, signs, cheers and fists punching the air as the chase unfolded before OJ ultimately surrendered to police and he was arrested at his home in Brentwood, California, and taken to the Los Angeles County Jail.
After the white Ford Bronco stalled at Simpson’s property, his lifelong friend and teammate, Al Cowlings, got out. Simpson’s attorney arrived at the mansion nearly an hour later, and the arrest came minutes later.
Before fleeing as he was about to be arrested, the former football great left a handwritten letter declaring his innocence, saying goodbye to friends and making ‘one last wish’ to ‘leave my children alone’ – which got him to be put on suicide watch when he arrived at the prison.
“I cannot express the fear I had that this case would not end the way it did,” said Simpson’s attorney, Robert Shapiro, who had previously worried that the former football great would kill himself.
In 1995, the OJ trial gripped the world as he and his famous defense attorney, Robert Kardashian, fought the charges and the evidence, which included crime scene blood found in his car and home, and the fact that a pair of gloves carried. of the killer was no match for OJ He’s massive hands was acquitted in the criminal case.
Two days after the fatal stabbings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1992, OJ led police on a 90-minute low-speed car chase in his friend’s white Ford Bronco
The infamous car chase saw driver Al Cowlings carry fleeing murder suspect OJ Simpson down the 405 Freeway in Low Angeles, California
OJ eventually surrendered to the police and was arrested at his home in Brentwood, California and taken to the Los Angeles County Jail
The fugitive cowered in the back seat of his Cowlings’ Bronco with a gun to his head as police, media and fans followed him – like a freeway parade
There were crowds on the overpasses, signs, cheers and fists in the air as the chase unfolded before OJ finally surrendered
Americans were glued to their TV screens watching the standoff, and Californians flooded to the 405 freeway to watch the 90-minute slow-speed car chase go down
The car chase started on Friday, June 17 – the day OJ was supposed to turn himself in at 11, but as the hours passed, he failed to identify himself to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The LAPD grew impatient and went to the home where OJ lived in the San Fernando Valley. There they discovered that OJ had escaped with the help of his friend and teammate Cowlings, who ‘follows OJ like a shadow’ according to friends.
The duo jumped into Cowlings’ Bronco and headed south toward Orange County.
Just before At 14, the LAPD hosted a press conference to officially announce that OJ was a fugitive, and hours later they were able to track him down through phone calls he had made and locate the Ford Bronco.
Over the next two hours, a massive police chase took place – with 20 police cars chasing OJ and Cowlings as they made the 60-mile trip back from Orange County to Brentwood.
OJ attended the University of Southern California where he played running back for the Trojans football team. The all-star player began a professional football career with the Buffalo Bills and finished playing for the San Francisco 49ers and is considered one of the greatest running backs of all time.
OJ married Nicole Brown Simpson in 1985 and the couple were together until 1992, two years before her shocking death in a stabbing with her friend Ron Goldman, for whom OJ was the prime suspect.
Simpson rose to prominence as a running back who played 11 seasons, nine with the Buffalo Bills
OJ went on to pursue an acting career after his football days and in 1988 starred in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! OJ played Nordberg
Simpson as Commander John Walker in the 1978 film Capricorn One
Simpson was acquitted, but later found civilly responsible for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown. The picture: The couple in New York in 1993
Traffic came to a standstill all the way from Disneyland to Los Angeles and West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip was completely deserted as residents scrambled to their TV screens to watch the live stream and TV hoppers charged around the freeway trying to catch the chase.
Patrol officers saw OJ on the 5 Freeway in Orange County in the back seat of the Bronco, sobbing and holding the barrel of a .357 magnum to his head.
The blue sky above Orange County was flooded with a parade of helicopters.
Commuters abandoned their journeys to cheer on Simpson — and some even made signs that read “Go OJ!”
The nation watched in disbelief, and frantic callers flooded the radio station, begging Simpson to turn himself in.
Gascon, the LAPD’s chief spokesman at the time, said in an interview that “the size of the crowd really hit home. My sister in Paris saw me on TV and (so did) my cousin in Shanghai.’
While inside the Bronco, OJ answered a cell phone call from lead detective Tom Lange, who tried to force OJ to throw the gun out the window.
‘OJOJ It’s Tom Lange from the police. Remember me.’ Lange asked him to drop the gun, OJ said “I don’t want to hurt anybody, but I need it for me.”
The refugee said ‘Just let me come to the house. I just have to go to my house where I lived with Nicole.’ Long agreed.
A gruesome photo showing the bloody crime scene after the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman
His sports and movie stardom would be overshadowed by his arrest for the murders of Brown and Goldman. Pictured: Simpson in Superior Court in Los Angeles in December 1994
Simpson (pictured at his trial in 1995) became one of the most notorious figures in America after he was accused in 1994 of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman
The father of six at a premiere with then-wife Nicole Brown and their children Sydney and Justin
Lange told OJ that his children and his family needed him to stay alive. The detective has since admitted that he thinks OK is too much of a narcissist to kill himself.
When the pursuit finally ended and Simpson entered his Brentwood property just before 1 p.m. 20.00, the negotiations began.
First of all, OJ asked the officers if he could drink a glass of orange juice, the drink he was nicknamed after, and call his mother.
He was then taken into custody and charged with two counts of first degree murder.