They see me rollin’!
They see me rollin’! They hatin’!
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Come on..can’t you see all the cops are just trying to get a tank full of gas? *rimshot*
LAME! But funny, lol.
Tank you.
My bad Pun Senses are Tingling!
Is it just me are is he in the lane marked for going South?
I doubt Mexico would like to have an unarmed American Tank coming their way….but maybe it makes up for those escaping. *shrugs*
You win.
Actually, he probably just held up a gas station. San Diego does have some of the most expensive gas in the country…
The tank was stolen from the National Guard Armory in San Diego CA, back in May 1995. The driver, Shawn Nelson, destroyed several cars and an RV before they pried open the tank and killed him (he hung it up on the freeway luge barrier, if I recall correctly). There was much controversy about whether he should have been shot, since the tank was apparently all he was armed with (no gun, nothing to fire from the tank itself), with the consensus being that the tank itself did count as a deadly weapon.
I suppose they assumed he had a gun, since he had a tank.
At the time, the authorities had no way of knowing whether the tank was loaded or not. That’s part of why they decided to kill the man, as they had no way of knowing what he had in there.
There was no way of knowing for /certain/, but ammo is not kept near the tanks and a guardsman saw Shawn enter the tank, which presumably means the guardsman saw Shawn wasn’t carrying anything into the tank when he entered it. If the guard saw Shawn pry open the tank hatch, he would know fairly conclusively the tank had no loaded weapons, but the guardsman may have missed that.
In statements made by the police about the reasoning behind the shooting, they cite concern over what would happen if Shawn got the tank free, not concern that he was armed.
Also, the old adage about having a hammer definitely applies here.
On the other hand, the police had to make a quick decision based on limited information with the interest of the public in mind. In such a situation, expecting anyone of making the an optimal decision is too high a standard (which, I believe, is your point); the standard to apply should definitely allow for sub-optimal decisions.
Reminds me of GTA-2.
Freeway luge barrier? Dude, if you have a problem with people luging down the freeway, you have some seriously awesome problems.
He was still actively trying to free the tank from the freeway divider and he could have killed or injured a lot of people of the freeway.
Ah, Shawn Nelson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Nelson
Thanks for the link! Much better than all the other nonsense! (Dragon & Shark comments were funny though.)
I don’t know if this is it, but a long time ago, like 13 years, a guy stole a tank and went on a rampage. I remember watching it on the knews and thinking it was awesome….
“knews” fail.
Shawn Nelson (hopefully not a relative of the Nelson of Trafalgar fame) stole a Patton tank, and went for a drive through San Diego.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Nelson
He drove it for half an hour, across various parts of the city, then high-centered it on the center divider of the highway.
Amazingly, no deaths (apart from Nelson, who was shot for, I am guessing, criminal stupidity).
Of course, that was before September 11. Now, you must prove that you have no ties to any known terrorist organization before stealing a tank.
Sadly, thanks to this guy, GIVEUSATANK no longer works in SD County.
Typical American overkill – OK, the guy pinched a tank and was causing a bit of damage – but Christ, 22 police cars?! Probably cost more to follow him than it would have to repair a bit of concrete. One car could have tailed him until he got fed up (or fell asleep) and arrested him – didn’t have to kill him.
As I stated above, he was still actively trying to free the tank from the freeway divider and he could have killed or injured a lot of people of the freeway.
Typical American overkill – 22 police cars to follow 1 guy in an unarmed tank. OK, he was doing some damage, but I bet it would have been cheaper to repair some concrete and have 1 car follow him until he got fed up or fell asleep, he wasn’t exactly breaking the speed limit! Didn’t have to kill him.
Oops, seem to have uploaded twice – sorry, thought the first one didn’t take!
and its the American overkill your worried about?
Jesus, it’s just a large tank that can crush a house with a mentally unstable guy inside! Do the police even have to get involved at all?!
Slightly different scale…
And you think the only concern here was that he may damage a bit of concrete? You think that all they were worried about was how much it would cost? The 22 cars were already on the road, so no extra cost there. The lesson here is, if you don’t want to be shot to death, don’t steal a tank. Normal people don’t do that.
He wasn’t normal. And normal people might think it a bit harsh to kill someone once he’s stopped doing what was making them send 22 cars after one man.
I’m not saying that what he did was acceptable – but I still say the reaction to what he did was overkill.
Oh well – if he wasn’t NORMAL, that’s FINE – shoot him now I say. HarUMPH
He crushed several cars. It’s a miracle that no one was in them (granted, they were parked, but I mess around in my car after it’s been parked). He tore up sreets, took out lights and signs (which is insanely dangerous due to people’s reluctance to stop when the DO see the stop sign/light). He didn’t just take it for a drive, he was out to destroy things.
As I said, I’m not condoning what he was doing – but I still say that whether they followed him with 22 cars or 222 cars, they couldn’t stop him. Still, he’s dead now, problem solved, eh?
F U! I have a TANK!
F U! I’m a dragon!
F ur dragon, I have flying sharks.
but do they have laser beams attached to their head?
Hah.
Mine have FRICKING LASERS on their foreheads.
At this point in the chase, he’s about five seconds from slamming repeatedly into a bridge abutment.
Also, when he got killed, he was trying to get the tank unstuck from the median and over to the other side, where there weren’t any police cars. If he had succeeded, he would’ve racked up a massive death toll.
How?
by driving into oncoming traffic.
The thought of that tank driving the wrong way on a busy freeway is terrifying.
Alright, so there is a 18 ton diesel tank engine churning away behind you and you dont think people would be smart enough to get out of the way? Should have just let him have a joyride and THEN put him in jail. “wttya in for?” “Stole a tank.”
And just where are they supposed to “get out of the way” to?! Into other lanes with cars in them? That would certainly stop the tank, have a barricade of cars that wrecked when they were trying to escape in a panic.
Brings back memories of High School. I went to Kearny High, right next door the Armory the tank was stolen from.
For those commenting about the overkill… He did steal a tank located next to a high school that happened to have a theater performance that night; drove through a few neighborhoods, obliterating motor vehicles, and came close to driving through someone’s house. All before deciding to get on Interstate 163 heading south trailed by the 22 cop cars. My best friend in high school saw the incident on 163 from her balcony. I think shooting him was a bit overkill, but the intention was not to kill the guy, and if the guy had managed to get on the other side of 163, there would have been a death toll as he headed into on coming traffic during rush hour. Could you honestly say that if you were that cop in the same position, you wouldn’t have done something similar? (referring to the attempted shot to prevent him from further destruction and possible deaths)
I didnt think my thing would get be on pundit kitchen, i thought it was too stupid
Why would a guy do a thing like this?
“Crystal Revelations”
hmm, strange kind of escorting being done here.
[...] They’re loads of fun [...]
[...] They’re loads of fun [...]
[...] They’re loads of fun [...]
Why wouldn’t he just turn around a bust a cap in their ass?
Because it only takes one man to drive a tank, but you need two to fire the gun when it’s still, three to drive it and fire the gun at the same time, and four to actually fight it properly. Oh and, rather crucially, if you actually look at the pic, the gun still has the travel lock on, so when he gets out to release it, the cops can bust his @$$!