May 18, 1995.
Shawn Nelson, army veteran steals a tank and goes on a rampage in San Diego.
Shawn Nelson’s ride became a saga about the fading middle class; the emasculation of men; the first skirmish of the war coming home.
www.capitalgazette.com
At dusk, approximately 6:30 PM on Wednesday, May 17, 1995, Nelson drove his Chevrolet van to the California Army National Guard Armory on Mesa College Boulevard in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood of San Diego. Although the gate to the vehicle yard was usually locked after 5:00 p.m., employees at the armory were working late, and left the gate open. The vehicle yard was completely deserted.
Nelson likely used a crowbar to break open the tank hatches. The tanks involved started with a push button and did not require an ignition key. The first two tanks he broke into would not start. As he lowered himself into the third tank, a 57-ton M60A3, he was finally noticed by a guardsman, who approached the tank. Nelson started the vehicle, and with little chance of stopping him, the guardsman rushed to a phone and called police. As ammunition was kept in another building, none of the vehicle's weapons could be loaded or used by Nelson.
Nelson led police on a 23-minute, televised chase through the streets of the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego. Police agencies involved in the chase included the San Diego Police Department, San Diego County Sheriff's Department, the California Highway Patrol, and due to the tank being stolen from the armory, possibly military police as well. Phillip Cady was the first police officer on the scene of the tank chase. The tank had a top speed of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h), making the chase slow compared to police chases involving automobiles. The 57-ton tank easily plowed through road signs, traffic lights, utility poles, fire hydrants and crushed approximately 40 parked vehicles, including an RV. The damage to utility poles knocked out power to at least 5,100 San Diego Gas & Electric customers in the Linda Vista neighborhood.
From the armory, Nelson traveled along neighborhood streets, eventually turning north on Convoy Street, west on to Balboa Avenue (then signed as State Route 274), and entered Interstate 805 heading south.While on I-805 he attempted to knock down a pedestrian bridge by running into the supports, but gave up after he failed to topple it with the first few hits. Nelson then drove the tank onto the State Route 163 freeway heading southbound, resulting in the freeway being closed and thousands of motorists being stuck. At least one news article speculated he may have been headed to Sharp Memorial, which he had unsuccessfully sued in 1990 and partially blamed for his mother's death. After Nelson attempted to cross into the northbound lanes of State Route 163, the tank became caught on the concrete median barrier, where it also lost one tread.
After the tank was immobilized, four police officers climbed onto the tank. San Diego Police officer Paul Paxton, a gunnery sergeant at the time with the Marine Corps Reserve, opened the hatch using bolt cutters. The officers ordered Nelson to surrender, but he said nothing and began rocking the tank back and forth in attempt to free it from the median. Officer Paxton's partner, Richard Piner, leaned in and shot Nelson. The bullet entered through Nelson's neck.
Nelson later died at Sharp Memorial Hospital. Despite the widespread property destruction, Nelson was the only fatality in the incident.
Aftermath:
An article about the chase:
(Automotive sperging ahead) , it was just a Chevy Cavalier with a Caddy grille, tail lamps and pricetag, produced only in the vain hopes that late 80's yuppies looking for their first luxury car would buy a Cadillac instead of, say, a BMW 3-series, if a "small" one could be introduced to the Cadillac lineup, it ended up one of the biggest flops GM ever built as it was overpriced, underpowered and utterly not what the market wanted.
