A history of police pursuits

San Diego police and California Highway Patrol officers work to stop an M-60 tank that was hijacked from a National Guard armory in 1995. The man who hijacked the tank was shot and killed by police.

San Diego police and California Highway Patrol officers work to stop an M-60 tank that was hijacked from a National Guard armory in 1995. The man who hijacked the tank was shot and killed by police.  (Michael Poche / Associated Press )

Share

This week’s wild police pursuit in Southeast Los Angeles County was the latest in a series of chases that have caught the attention of viewers across the nation.

Tank

National Guardsmen inspect a government car at a San Diego armory. The car was the first vehicle destroyed in a tank rampage.   (Dave Gatley / Los Angeles Times)

Tank

A vehicle was destroyed by a hijacked tank.  (Eduardo Contreras / Associated Press )

Bank Robbery

An LAPD officer keeps people away from a car containing bank robbery suspects as it is searched on Vernon Avenue in South Los Angeles in September 2012. Before they were stopped, the suspects were throwing cash from the car.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

O.J. Simpson

Dozens of police chase O.J. Simpson in a white Ford Bronco on the 91 Freeway, west of the 5 , in Buena Park after his ex-wife and her friend were found slain.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Vernon

South Los Angeles residents gathered on Vernon Avenue shout “We want the money” in 2012 near where a pursuit of bank robbery suspects ended.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Corvette

The driver of a Corvette was shot and killed by police in downtown L.A. in 2013. The City Council approved a $5-million settlement with the man’s family last year.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)