Video: 'O.J. Simpson Pursuit, June 17, 1994
(Friday, June 17, 1994, 6:45-8:00 p.m. PDT) — The police pursued O.J. Simpson, riding in his white Bronco (driven by his friend Al Cowlings, who said Simpson was in the back seat and had a gun to his own head) in a slow-speed chase for about 50 miles along Southern California highways this evening before he finally surrendered outside his Los Angeles home, ending a long day on the run.
The extraordinary pursuit, broadcast to the nation by the television networks, developed about six hours after Simpson suddenly vanished instead of surrendering to the authorities at midday as his lawyer had arranged.
Simpson, who won fame and riches on the football field, in the movies and on television, had been charged with killing Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, who divorced him two years ago, and her friend, Ron Goldman, a 25-year-old waiter, outside her home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles on the evening of June 12, 1994.
Thousands of spectators and onlookers packed overpasses along the route of the chase, waiting for Simpson. In a festival-like atmosphere, many had signs urging Simpson to flee, such as “Save the Juice” signs.
Knowing that Cowlings was listening to KNX-AM, sports announcer Pete Arbogast called Simpson’s former USC football coach John McKay and connected him to Simpson. As both men wept, Simpson told McKay, “OK, coach, I won’t do anything stupid. I promise” off the air.
Video: 'OJ Simpson on the run in 1994 (Recorded LIVE) Full version'
“There is no doubt in my mind that McKay stopped O.J. from killing himself in the back of that Bronco”, Arbogast said. McKay, Walter Payton, Vince Evans, and others from around the country pleaded with Simpson over radio to surrender.
The chase ended at 8:00 p.m. PDT at his Brentwood estate, where his son, Jason, ran out of the house and 27 SWAT officers awaited.
After remaining in the Bronco for about 45 minutes, Simpson exited at 8:50 pm and went inside for about an hour; a police spokesman stated that he spoke to his mother.
His attorney, Robert Shapiro then arrived, and Simpson surrendered to authorities a few minutes later.
In the Bronco, police found “$8,000 in cash, a change of clothing, a loaded .357 Magnum, a United States passport, family pictures, and a disguise kit with a fake goatee and mustache.”
Simpson was booked at Parker Center and taken to Men’s Central Jail; Cowlings was booked on suspicion of harboring a fugitive and held on $250,000 bail.
Simpson was later acquitted in a criminal trial, but held liable in a civil trial.
