The American Tank Rampage: San Diego neighborhood terrorized by Army vet driving stolen tank in 1995
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Channel: CBS 8 San Diego
Views: 5,667,696
Rating: 4.8676977 out of 5
Keywords: san diego, tank rampage, shawn nelson, san diego tank, stolen tank, tank on san diego streets
Id: KpgkhngU8yE
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 1min 29sec (89 seconds)
Published: Mon Feb 10 2020
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I’m kind of obsessed with this story. I tried to figure out where in Clairemont this man was living at the time but none of the articles seem to mention it.
Shawn Nelson dug a 15 foot “mine” in his backyard because he was looking for gold.
I was living in O.B. , those were some days. Spoiler: That guy was on methamphetamine
I will forever be annoyed that he was driving it backwards
I got to witness a portion of this in person. I was taking a class at Mesa college and the power went out (due to the tank running over a power pole). The teacher cancelled the rest of class and I walked out to my car, which I parked on a nearby street so I didn’t have to pay, and I saw a flattened car. I was dazed and confused about how I didn’t notice this car when I walked on campus and then I noticed another, and another. I saw the top of a water plume from a broke fire hydrant around the corner and I went to see what the F was going on. A bunch of us were standing there trying to figure out what was happening when we saw the tank down the street just rolling on by. It was so confusing and hard to believe bc we had no idea there was an armory with tanks right there in the residential neighborhood.
At this point guy had his head sticking out of a port hole and was waving and smiling at people. I talked to a guy in the neighborhood who said at one point the tank man Stopped, backed up, and went around a car of a guy he knew and liked bc he didn’t want to destroy his car.
The aftermath of the incident was also baffling as there was a big debate about whether the police should have used deadly force on an unarmed man. What!? The guy was driving a tank!
Ummm. How did they end up stopping it? Where the F did the dude get a tank from
For a good many years, you could make out the center divide repair work on the 163. It’s faded enough over time you can’t see it anymore.
Yeah. I finally just got free of the traffic backup on the northbound 163 about a week ago. ;)
I had no clue why I was stuck in that traffic until it occurred to me to turn on the radio. Then all I could think was why didn't I get off at Washington.
Ninja Edit: Also, wasn't it long after that some dude stole a city bus and kept driving around one of the neighborhoods? I'm thinking around the San Carlos area?
Everyone remembers Tank Guy of Kearney Mesa but no one remembers Bus Guy of La Mesa.
I remember watching this with my stepdad and as soon as they released his name he said “oh sh*t I went to high school with that guy”.