Tank Rampage San Diego, May 17, 1995

[SoCalBobS]

29 years ago today a man stole a tank from a National Guard Armory in San Diego and went on a rampage. There is both air and ground footage in this clip, and there are more clips with other footage on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqFonIOUU1k

I was in charge of the air support unit at the time, was the first to see the air tape when we removed it from the helicopter.

[Rubicon99]

Memory lane. It was fun watching that again and now knowing you were part of it.

[Handy Lance]

29 years ago today a man stole a tank from a National Guard Armory in San Diego and went on a rampage. There is both air and ground footage in this clip, and there are more clips with other footage on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqFonIOUU1k

I was in charge of the air support unit at the time, was the first to see the air tape when we removed it from the helicopter.

No kidding.
Wow. I remember that.
Very interesting you were part of it.

[MrChef]

Wow! I remember that. Great share Bob. That must've been crazy to be there. The police were helpless. I can't imagine the carnage if he happened upon a traffic jam or heavy intersection.

[Meter Rat]

This made the TV in the UK. Love the amount of police cars following. Reminds me me of something from Smoky and the Bandit, or Convoy. And being so powerless to do anything. Kind of liked the fact that he seems to have a dislike of Caravans, pick ups, and road signs. Could do with him on the roads around here. . What was the contingency, if you had any, if he had not stuffed it into the central reservation?

[SoCalBobS]

There really wasn't any contingency, probably still isn't. Doesn't happen often, thankfully. There were no weapons stored locally by the military to stop it. You can hear the military's advice to use concertina wire to tangle and jam the suspension, but there wasn't any. Chain link fence might have worked if enough could be mustered in time, I guess. The white police SUV driver was ex-military and knew how to open the top hatch from outside. He opened it but the driver refused to comply and kept jerking the tank to try to shake off the cops. One finally shot him. I'm told that even with one track off, the tank could still maneuver, although not with any precision.

After the incident, the National Guard would remove the battery when the tanks were at the depot. Before that, they hadn't.

[Panzermechaniker]

Thanks for that. I remember it and always wondered what are you going to do for the first half hour or so unless you have Panzerfausts in every cop car

[RichJohnson]

Ah yes the last ride of Sean Nelson.
I remember it well. A friend lives in the neighborhood right there where Sean stole the tank from the Armory I was stationed at.
When we drive around his hood he points out things like that fire hydrant and a car there and so on where Sean ran stuff over. It’s a trip down memory lane,

[Meter Rat]

There really wasn't any contingency, probably still isn't. Doesn't happen often, thankfully. There were no weapons stored locally by the military to stop it. You can hear the military's advice to use concertina wire to tangle and jam the suspension, but there wasn't any. Chain link fence might have worked if enough could be mustered in time, I guess. The white police SUV driver was ex-military and knew how to open the top hatch from outside. He opened it but the driver refused to comply and kept jerking the tank to try to shake off the cops. One finally shot him. I'm told that even with one track off, the tank could still maneuver, although not with any precision.

After the incident, the National Guard would remove the battery when the tanks were at the depot. Before that, they hadn't.

Thank you for the information.