LAPD: June 2008 Archives

Avenues gang members rounded up.

Man shot twice confronting Hollywood taggers.

Black Student Union at Charter Oak High School targeted by yearbook vandal.

Suspicious packages create stir at ELA College.

City begins overhaul of former strip club site at Corky's Corner.

Certain events retain a power that stays with you for life. Clearly the Kennedy assassinations or that of Martin Luther King have that sort of effect on people.

I would argue that June 18, 1994 might be one of those moments -- certainly in my life.

The title of this post should give away the content (if the picture doesn't). I spent that Friday from about 6:30 a.m. until at least 11 p.m. outside Parker Center, O.J. Simpson's Brentwood home and back outside Parker Center as part of one of the most surreal events I'll ever cover.

Here's some of what we ran the following day:

Simpson's arrest ends day of drama

'Fallen American hero' faces murder charges in death of former wife, her friend

By Tom Scanlon, Tori Richards and Frank Girardot Staff Writers

O.J. SImpson took off on the longest, most dangerous run of his life before being arrested on murder charges last night.

"O.J. Simpson is in custody," said LAPD Cmdr. David Gascon at a 10 p.m. news conference. "He is being booked and processed."

The double murder defendant -- called a "fallen American hero" by the man in charge of prosecuting him was arrested at his Brentwood home after a 60-mile 90-minute police chase. The chase began in Orange County and crossed much of Los Angeles with Simpson, 46, keeping police away by pointing a gun to his head.

The 8:50 p.m. arrest of Simpson, accused of killing his ex-wife and her male friend capped a bizarre day that included a bomb scare, fears that Simpson would kill himself, a mysterious 911 call to the home of murdered Nicole Brown Simpson, pleas by officials to have Simpson turn himself in, a police force on the defensive and a public reading of an emotional note from Simpson.

The former USC and National Football League star running back had eluded police since 11 a.m. when he was suppossed to turn himself in.

The question of the day was "Where's O.J.?" For most of the day the Los Angeles Police Department had no answer.

He was considered armed and dangerous, and after he was finally arrested, a gun was recovered from the cat that led police on a chase watched by much of the country.

Simpson was carrying photos of Nicole Simpson and their daughter when he was arrested. Gascon said SImpson would be taken to the Men's Central Jail. He probably will be held there -- perhaps under a suicide watch -- until Monday, when he is likely to ... 

In the course of researching a column for Friday's paper, I ended up interviewing Munir Sirhan, brother of Sirhan Sirhan, the accused assassin of Robert F. Kennedy who died 40 years ago Friday.

Munir had some interesting things to say and introduced me to some people who believe there's more to his brother's story than the lone gunman narrative.

Among those taking up Munir's cause are Summer Reese, who is affiliated with KPFK radio, and Dr. William Pepper, who has a pretty interesting history of his own, and knew both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.

Pepper and several other researchers interested in the Kennedy assassination are getting together tonight near LAX to discuss new theories and information that's become available in recent months.

Here's a YouTube video about the organization known as COPA.