June 17, 1994 was already scheduled to be one of the busiest days on the American sports calendar.
Not only were New York Rangers fans celebrating the team’s first Stanley Cup victory in more than half a century, but the city’s beloved Knicks were taking on the Rockets in Houston for Game 5 of the NBA Finals .
Add to that Arnold Palmer’s final round of the US Open in his native Pennsylvania, as well as the start of the World Cup in Chicago, and much of the country had its Friday afternoon scheduled.
Then OJ Simpson called 911, resulting in an unforgettable spectacle watched by approximately 95 million viewers.
Simpson, a beloved NFL star, actor and football analyst, was accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole, and his friend Ronald Goldman. But instead of turning himself in, the Heisman winner climbed into the back of his friend and former teammate’s Ford Bronco for a leisurely police chase along the Los Angeles freeways. Over the next few hours, Domino’s Pizza would post record sales, KeynoteUSA host Peter Jennings received a prank call on live television, and the country was introduced to the Kardashians.
The following is DailyMail.com’s look back at Simpson’s infamous police chase 30 years later.
OJ Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson at the premiere of “When Harry Met Sally” in Los Angeles The California Highway Patrol pursues Cowlings, driving, and Simpson, hiding in the back of the Bronco.
Simpson died in April at age 76 after a battle with cancer, but there was no great grief as one might expect from a Hall of Famer. Instead, his alma mater, the University of Southern California, and the NFL remained silent on the issue of Simpson’s death.
Officially, he was acquitted at his murder trial in 1994, although Simpson was later found responsible for the deaths of Nicole and Goldman in a subsequent civil trial.
‘The Juice’ would later serve nine years in prison after being arrested for forcing his way into a Las Vegas hotel room at gunpoint to recover sports memorabilia he claimed to be his.
But by then, Simpson’s reputation had been tarnished, and despite his frequent attempts to remain in the public eye, many believed he was guilty of the 1994 double murder.
And it was during that chase that much of America first considered the possibility that OJ brutally stabbed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman to death near the entrance to their Brentwood condo.
A family photo of Ronald Goldman, who was murdered with Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, poses with his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and their children, at the premiere of director Peter Segal’s film ‘Naked Gun 33 1/3 :The Final Insult’
June 17, 1994 began when detectives recommended that Simpson be charged with two counts of first-degree murder after preliminary testing found Simpson’s blood type at the crime scene.
Similar evidence would ultimately point to Simpson as well: bloody footprints matching the size of his feet, a glove stained with blood from both victims, his and Nicole’s blood found inside his white Ford Bronco.
Despite mounting evidence, Simpson maintained his innocence, claiming that he was home at the time of the murders and waiting for a limousine to take him to the airport to catch a red-eye flight to Chicago. Testimony at trial from his housemate, Kato Kaelin, and the driver would cast doubt on Simpson’s alibi, but that information was not yet publicly known.
All the public knew was that Simpson had flown to Chicago on June 12, the night of the murders, and that police summoned him home the next morning.
Most Americans remained divided over Simpson’s possible guilt for the next few days. After all, Simpson had been repeatedly accused of domestic violence during his seven-year marriage to Nicole. He was even convicted of spousal abuse in 1989, but walked free with a fine and probation.
Now, however, Simpson’s life was at stake, and with a possible decades-long prison sentence looming, the legendary racer agreed to turn himself in to police.
Then he began to have doubts.
Blood found in OJ Simpson’s Bronco was found to belong to both him and his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson (left), walks with friend Robert Kardashian (center) and lead attorney Johnnie Cochran.
Upset that he had not surrendered, the Los Angeles police launched a search for Simpson.
Meanwhile, attorney Robert Shapiro held a press conference at 5 p.m., where Simpson’s friend Robert Kardashian revealed a handwritten letter from the missing suspect. It was the Kardashian home where Simpson was last seen before his sudden disappearance.
“I’ve had a great life, great friends,” said Simpson’s letter, which Kardashian shared with the media. “Please think about real orange juice and not this lost person.”
Simpson emphasized that he “had nothing to do with Nicole’s murder” and added that if “we had a problem, it’s because I loved her so much.”
Although his exact location was unclear, police and Simpson’s own lawyers believed he was with his old friend and former teammate, AC Cowlings.
“I’m crossing my fingers and praying that we can bring him to court,” Shapiro said at the afternoon news conference.
Shapiro would get his wish, but only after Simpson and Cowlings led police along 60 miles of highways and city streets with dozens of patrol cars following close behind.
Motorists wave ‘Save the Juice’ signs as police cars chase the Bronco driven by Cowlings Motorists stop and wave as police cars chase the Ford Bronco containing OJ Simpson The white Ford Bronco, driven by Al Cowlings , transporting fugitive murder suspect OJ Simpson
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It was almost 6 p.m. when Simpson first called 911, which helped authorities determine his location.
“I’m just going to leave,” Simpson told the dispatcher. ‘I want to go with Nicole. That’s all I want to do. That’s all I’ve been trying to do.
Police soon tracked Simpson’s whereabouts to the 5 Freeway in Santa Anna, where he was riding in the back seat of Cowlings’ white Ford Bronco (not to be confused with Simpson’s own white Ford Bronco, which was undergoing DNA testing). ).
News helicopters soon began the chase as countless fans began lining the Los Angeles freeways with signs reading “Run, OJ, Run” and “Don’t Squeeze the Juice.”
Shortly after, it was Cowlings who spoke on the phone with a 911 operator.
“This is AC, I have OJ in the car,” Cowlings said. “He’s still alive but he has a gun to his head. He just wants to see his mother. Let me take him to his house.”
Cowlings then exited the 405 onto Sunset Boulevard, where the crowd of onlookers only intensified.
Al Cowlings arrives, in his Ford Bronco, at Nicole Simpson’s funeral on June 15, 1994. Official booking photograph of OJ Simpson released by the Los Angeles Police Department.
It was almost 8 p.m. when Cowlings’ Bronco arrived at Simpson’s house, where the police and much of OJ’s family were waiting. He would soon turn himself in, but not until a Howard Stern fan called into the live KeynoteUSA broadcast to tease Jennings with an erroneous update.
“We also have Robert Higgins on the phone with us, who lives in the neighborhood and is on the ground and can see inside the van,” Jennings told his audience of millions.
“I see OJ, man, and he looks scared,” the prankster said. “And it would scare me because there are police involved in this.”
Jennings apparently fell for it and continued to ask questions, even after the caller made a reference to Stern’s producer, Gary ‘Baba Booey’ Dell’Abate.
If it hadn’t been for Jennings’ co-host, Simpson’s old friend Al Michaels, the KeynoteUSA host would never have realized he was being pranked.
“So no one thinks it was someone who was actually across the street who wasn’t,” Michaels, an admitted Stern admirer, told the KeynoteUSA audience. “He said something in code at the end that is indicative of… a certain radio show host.”
AC Cowlings, a friend and former teammate of OJ, was driving the Bronco and was also arrested
In addition to Simpson, Cowlings was also arrested for helping his friend, but the charges were later dropped.
An epic eight-month trial followed, after which Simpson was officially acquitted due to some costly missteps by prosecutors and the LKeynoteUSAD.
Despite that verdict, Simpson’s life would never be the same. The brutal murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were not witnessed by a soul, but it was hard to find anyone who didn’t see Cowlings’ Bronco crawling down the Los Angeles freeway on June 17, 1994.
And that day, much of the country was on trial.
As Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti said after Simpson’s arrest: “We saw, perhaps, the fall of an American hero.”
Keynote USA
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