Rodney King Was Drunk and High in MoVal, Prosecutors Say

Rodney G. King, whose videotaped beating during a 1991 traffic stop helped spark the Los Angeles riots a year later, was charged Wednesday with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence in Moreno Valley in July.

Prosecutors alleged King was driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, said John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

King "did wilfully and unlawfully drive a vehicle while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and a drug and under their combined influence," prosecutors said in a misdemeanor complaint filed Wednesday in Riverside.

The complaint stated King's blood alcohol level was "0.08 percent or more" when he was arrested July 12.

King is scheduled to be arraigned at 7:30 a.m. Friday in Dept. 21, Riverside Superior Court.

Because there is a prior DUI conviction alleged, King could face up to one year in county jail if convicted, Hall said.

King, 46, was in a 1994 Mitsubishi when he was stopped by Moreno Valley police about 2:30 p.m. July 12 on Frederick Street, north of Brabham Drive, according to Sgt. David Knudsen of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

King commited several unspecified traffic violations before he was stopped July 12, Knudsen said.

"The driver was identified as Rodney Glenn King of Rialto, California," Knudsen said in a statement.

A preliminary evaluation indicated the driver was possibly driving while impaired, Knudsen said.

King was booked in Riverside and released on $2,500 bail late the same day, according to inmate records.

In the 1991 traffic stop that ended with a videotaped beating of King by Los Angeles police, some officers alleged King was under the influence of PCP. Subsequent tests for PCP turned out negative.

The officers accused in the beating were acquitted in April 1992. The riots that followed lasted five to six days during which more than 50 people died and property damage was estimated at more than $1 billion.

King has appeared on reality-based programs including "Celebrity Rehab" and "Sober House."

Prosecutors listed a prior DUI conviction from 2003 in San Bernardino County on the misdemeanor complaint they filed Wednesday.

A pdf copy of the complaint is attached.