'The People v. O.J. Simpson': Follow the White Bronco Chase With Our Minute-By-Minute Map
Tonight’s episode of FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story brings to vivid life the infamous “white Bronco chase,” which saw accused murderer O.J. Simpson and his friend Al Cowlings lead police on a low-speed tour of L.A.’s freeways while America ran to their TVs to watch.
If you don’t quite remember every twist and turn of the chase (or you weren’t alive yet to see it), we’ve designed a map that tracks the movements of Simpson’s Bronco on that fateful day of June 17, 1994:
(Click Here For Larger Version.) Source: Los Angeles Times
The Bronco starts out parked at Robert Kardashian’s house (1) in Encino, where Simpson’s lawyer Robert Shapiro is negotiating for Simpson’s surrender to police. But Simpson fails to report to police at the agreed time, and when police arrive at the house at noon local time, Shapiro informs them that Simpson and Cowlings have left the house.
In the hours that follow, both police and Simpson’s lawyers are looking for the former football great. The LAPD officially announces that Simpson is a fugitive and D.A. Gil Garcetti vows that “we will find Mr. Simpson and bring him to justice.” Later, Shapiro holds his own press conference, where he pleads with Simpson to surrender and Kardashian reads a hand-written letter from Simpson.
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Meanwhile, Simpson reportedly heads for Ascension Cemetery (2) in Lake Forest, where Nicole Brown Simpson is buried. Finally, at 5:51 p.m., Simpson makes a 911 call from his cell phone, allowing authorities to trace his location to the 5 Freeway near the cemetery. Minutes later, the California Highway Patrol (3) begins pursuit.
After an hour of low-speed pursuit, with TV stations starting to carry the chase live (even interrupting Game 5 of the NBA Finals to do so), Simpson’s Bronco turns onto the 91 Freeway (4) to head west, then takes the 110 (5) to the 405 (6) to head north. By now, the chase has become a media sensation, and crowds of people are gathering at overpasses to cheer Simpson on.
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Simpson and Cowlings finally arrive at Simpson’s home in Brentwood (7) at 7:57 p.m., with Simpson remaining inside the parked Bronco for nearly an hour. After speaking with his mother and waiting for Shapiro to arrive, Simpson surrenders to authorities and is taken downtown to Parker Center (8), the LAPD’s headquarters at the time, where he is formally booked.
And with that, one of the stranger chapters in the history of American justice is closed. But of course, as we all know, this case only gets stranger from here.
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
