It was the car chase that stopped the nation from screaming.
On June 17, 1994, 95 million Americans can’t take their eyes off the white Ford Bronco carrying fugitive OJ Simpson as it leads a convoy of police cars down a Southern California highway. was.
Broadcasts of major sporting events such as the NBA Finals and the US Open were interrupted by tracking footage, and Domino’s Pizza reported a record number of delivery orders from viewers who didn’t want to miss a second.
The moment was captured by hovering television helicopters and breathless reporters, broadcast around the world, and some still cling to it.
But for one viewer, it had a special appeal.
Kim Goldman said in a 2019 podcast commemorating the 25th anniversary of the chase, “We all gathered around and watched, and no one was breathing. We were in complete awe and mesmerized. I just stood there,” he recalled.
“It was strange because there were people who expected him to commit suicide…and my father and I weren’t. We took him away and held him accountable. I wanted to.”
Five days earlier, Goldman’s brother Ron was stabbed to death along with Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson.
O.J. Simpson and Nicole Brown Simpson pose at the premiere of “The Naked Gun,” starring O.J., on March 16, 1994 in Los Angeles, California. (Vinny Zufante/Getty Images)
O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson (left) and her friend Ron Goldman. Both were murdered and found dead in Los Angeles on June 12, 1994. O.J. Simpson was arrested and acquitted of murder. (AP Photo/File)
In this June 13, 1994 photo, bloodstained sheets are scattered at the entrance to a Los Angeles-area condominium after Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found dead. (AP Photo/Eric Draper)
This is the first page of a four-page letter written by O.J. Simpson regarding charges related to the murders of his ex-wife Nicole and Ronald Goldman, released on June 17, 1994. As of the evening, Simpson was leading authorities. A car chase begins outside Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Simpson was famously acquitted by a Los Angeles jury in 1995 in a case that was denounced by many as a media circus and became known as the “trial of the century.”
The acquittal of the former football star and Hollywood actor was met with disbelief by many Americans, who were divided along racial lines about the guilt of the black players.
Simpson was later found responsible for the deaths in a 1997 civil suit and ordered to pay a total of $33.5 million in damages to Goldman’s family. Most of it remained unpaid.
“Waiting for a collision”
Simpson always denied attempting to flee during the famous Bronco pursuit, despite maintaining his innocence and ignoring police deadlines to appear.
“Please let everyone know I’m not running, I’m visiting Nicole’s grave,” he told LAPD detectives on the phone during the low-speed pursuit.
Many people questioned this because police found Simpson’s passport, cash and a duffel bag containing a gun in the car, but prosecutors did not introduce it as evidence.
On June 17, 1994, O. J. Simpson’s best friend Al Cowlings drove north on the bi-county freeway to Simpson’s home in Los Angeles, hiding Simpson behind the wheel of a Ford Bronco. Lead the police in pursuit. (AP Photo/Lois Bernstein)
During the infamous car chase, a Los Angeles news helicopter is seen hovering over O.J. Simpson’s white Ford Bronco. (Didier PAZERY/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
ABC News TV screen image broadcasting O.J. Simpson’s car chase. (Rick Mayman/Sigma via Getty Images)
Members of the press watch live television coverage of O.J. Simpson driving down a freeway in Los Angeles during Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday night, June 17, 1994. (AP Photo/Ron Frame)
The California Highway Patrol chases Al Cowlings as he drives and O.J. Simpson hides behind a white Bronco on the 91 Freeway just west of the I5 freeway. The pursuit ended with Simpson’s arrest at his home in Brentwood. (Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
A white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowling is seen traveling on Interstate 405. Former NFL running back O.J. Simpson hid in his car after failing to turn himself in for the murder of his ex-wife. (Peter Reid Miller/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Crowds begin to gather on both sides of the highway as police zero in on O.J. Simpson’s white Ford Bronco. (Peter Reid Miller/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
A white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowlings and O.J. Simpson is pursued by a Los Angeles police car while driving on a Los Angeles freeway. (AP Photo/Joseph Villarin)
On June 17, 1994, a white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowlings (right) carrying fugitive murder suspect OJ Simpson is stopped on Interstate 405 in Los Angeles as a police car pursues it. Drivers waving. During a 90 minute low speed car chase. California. (Jean-Marc Gibou/Liaison)
Drivers wave and watch as a police car pursues O. J. Simpson’s white Ford Bronco on Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, California on June 17, 1994. (Jean-Marc Gibou/Liaison)
On June 17, 1994, a white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowlings carrying fugitive murder suspect OJ Simpson engages in a 90-minute low-speed car chase on Highway 405 in Los Angeles, California. (Ted Soki/Sigma via Getty Images)
On June 17, 1994, a police cruiser chased a white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowlings carrying fugitive murder suspect O.J. Simpson in a 90-minute low-speed chase on the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles. Drivers wave signs supporting O.J. Simpson during a chase. California. (Vinny Zufante/Getty Images)
On June 17, 1994, a police car chases a white Ford Bronco carrying fugitive murder suspect O.J. Simpson on Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, California, in a 90-minute low-speed car chase. People watching from the elevated highway. (Jean-Marc Gibou/Liaison)
On June 17, 1994, a police car pursues a white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowlings carrying fugitive murder suspect O.J. Simpson on Interstate 405 in Los Angeles, California. Cowlings eventually drove Simpson back to his home in Brentwood and turned himself in to police. (Vinny Zufante/Getty Images)
A helicopter shot of O. J. Simpson’s home in Brentwood, California, showing a white Ford Bronco finally parked in the driveway and a police car parked outside. Simpson failed to turn himself in for the murder of his ex-wife and fled in his car before returning to his home. (Richard Maxon/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Former football superstar O.J. Simpson (center) was arrested on June 17, 1994 after a 90-minute highway chase and escorted to Parker Center by two LAPD detectives. Head to. Simpson is charged with murdering his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her girlfriend. My friend Ronald Goldman was brutally murdered late on June 12, 1994 (VINCE BUCCI/AFP, Getty Images)
O.J. Simpson’s mugshot after his arrest on June 17, 1994 in Los Angeles, California. (Kypros/Getty Images)
For Jeffrey Alpert, a professor at the University of South Carolina who studies police pursuits, Simpson’s celebrity reinforced a deep-seated fascination with the idea of dangerous pursuits.
“We’re waiting for a collision. We don’t want anyone to die, but we certainly want to see mayhem,” he told AFP in 2019. He spoke while comparing it to the extremely popular NASCAR race.
“The media is more broadly interested in these types of events in the US than anywhere else,” he added.
“It goes back to the days of horseback riding, when someone robbed a bank and the sheriff would jump on a horse and give chase.”
The car itself belonged to Simpson’s friend Al Cowlings, who was driving during the chase, and is on display at the Tennessee Crime Museum.
A travel agency in Los Angeles was reportedly considering the idea of offering vehicles up and down the same freeway.
Simpson ultimately surrendered that day, much to the dismay of fans who had gathered on overpasses along the chase route with placards reading “Run OJ, Run” and “Go OJ.”
Fred Goldman is hugged by his attorney Daniel Petrocelli (left) and his daughter Kim after the verdict in the wrongful death civil suit against O.J. Simpson on February 4 in Santa Monica, California. (center) and his wife Patti (right). , 1997. (AP Photo/Nick Ute)
But for Goldman, that didn’t lead to any closure.
Simpson was released in 2017 after serving nine years in prison for an unrelated armed robbery. At the time of his death this week, he was living in Las Vegas, where he was regularly seen playing golf.
AFP contributed to this article.
