Rodney King drowns in Rialto

Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by police in 1991 sparked the L.A. riots, was found dead at his California home on Sunday. He was 47.

Police said King's fiancée discovered him at the bottom of the swimming pool at their Rialto, Calif., home, about 55 miles east of Los Angeles.

Police responded to a call at 5:25 a.m., pulled King out of the pool and attempted CPR, but could not revive him.

King's representative Suzanne Wickman confirmed to his death to KABC-TV. According to TMZ, King's fiancée, Cynthia Kelley, told friends King spent the bulk of Saturday drinking and "smoked marijuana at some point," before she went to went to bed at 2:00 a.m.

The cause of death is unknown, but police are investigating it as a drowning. Rialto Police Capt. Randy DeAnda told CNN there were no preliminary signs of foul play.

King was beaten by four white LAPD officers following a DUI stop on March 3, 1991. Footage captured by an amateur videographer showed the officers hitting King 56 times with wooden batons.

"I just got lucky that night to have the cameras on me," King said in April, marking the 20th anniversary of the L.A. riots. "When I saw the tape, I was so happy that it was on tape and then looking at it, it was like I was in another body. I felt like I had died in that one, and was just watching it."




The four officers--Theodore Briseno, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind and Sgt. Stacey Koon--were acquitted of criminal charges, sparking the riots that left 55 people dead. (Koon and Powell were later found guilty of federal civil rights charges and sentenced to 30 months in prison.)

"It felt like Armageddon," King said of the acquittal. "It felt like the end of the world. I was hurt. I was past upset.



"I was raised not to be violent, and not to be rioting and carrying on like a wild man," he added, "but at the same time, there was a side of me saying, 'What else can you do?' I didn't agree with it, but I understood."

During the five-day riots--marked by widespread looting, arson and racially-charged beatings throughout South Central L.A.--King made his famous public plea for peace: "People, I just want to say, can we all get along? Can we get along?"

"Through all that he had gone through with his beating and personal demons, he was never one to not call for reconciliation and for his people to overcome and forgive," the Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement on Sunday.

King had long struggled with alcohol abuse, much of it detailed in his 2012 memoir, "The Riot Within." According to KABC, he was arrested or detained by police at least a dozen times on charges ranging from DUI to domestic violence.

In 2011--the 20th anniversary of his beating--King was arrested in California on suspicion of DUI.

According to TMZ, King was scheduled to compete in a celebrity boxing match against Jose Canseco in August.

ILLUMINATI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I read about that earlier this morning. So Rodney survived getting damn near beat to death by cops, getting shot in the face in the 5x hood, but ultimately succumbs to death after a casual swim in his own pool.....crazy.

King had run-ins with police in Inland Empire

Melissa Pinion-Whitt, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/17/2012 02:47:08 PM PDT

Rodney King's life in the Inland Empire was marked by a long line of run-ins with law enforcement.
For a time, King, who died of an apparent drowning at age 47 on Sunday at his Rialto home, lived in Upland right next to the Police Department.

He also spent time in Fontana.

Retired Upland police Capt. Jack West remembers well King's interaction with officers.

"It was kind of tenuous in that we were always wondering if it would ever become an issue because of all the attention surrounding him," West said

West recalled several encounters with King in Upland, including one where he broke the window of a convenience store because employees wouldn't sell him alcohol.

In another, police towed


Rodney King (Courtesy photo)
his vehicle because he nearly struck an unmarked police vehicle and was driving on a suspended license, West said.
"We just treated him like we always try to treat everyone," West said. "He wasn't happy, but he was compliant."

Rialto police Capt. Randy DeAnda couldn't recall an incident where King was arrested in Rialto, but he said officers considered him "cordial, very professional and very cooperative" with police.

"He's a very high-profile citizen in whatever community he's residing in," DeAnda said. "But we had a good working relationship with him when we had been in contact with him."

Between 1999 and 2001, King served two 90-day jail sentences for misdemeanor domestic violence convictions.

King admitted he abused the mother of one of his children in Fontana in one of the incidents. He was still on probation for that conviction when Claremont police arrested him in August 2001.

He mistakenly told a Claremont motel clerk that his car had been stolen. His girlfriend had actually taken the car to run an errand. The clerk called police after noticing that King appeared intoxicated. He was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs.

Pomona police arrested him on Sept. 29, 2001, after visitors at Ganesha Park in Pomona complained King was bothering people, jumping on an ice chest and exposing himself. Officers said he showed signs of being under the influence of PCP.

King agreed to enter a year-long drug residential drug treatment program as part of his sentence.

King crashed a 2003 Ford Expedition into a San Bernardino house in April 2003, leaving him with a broken pelvis and cracked ribs. The injuries hospitalized him for four days.

He blamed the crash on potholes and car problems, but police say he was under the influence of PCP. Officers say he was driving as fast as 100 mph when he lost control of the vehicle on Pepper Avenue, veered across several lanes, slammed into a power pole, drove through a fence and struck the house.

King pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of PCP. He was ordered to receive more drug treatment, serve four months in jail and three years' probation.

In November 2007, he received birdshot wounds on his face, back and right arm after two people tried to steal his bicycle in San Bernardino.

King told police he was riding in the 500 block of North Meridian Avenue about 10 p.m. when a man and woman approached him. Someone fired a shotgun at him as he rode away.

He rode 11/2 miles to his Rialto home before calling police. Rialto officers arrived and found the 42-year-old intoxicated.

King's notoriety took a different turn in October 2008 when he was on the VH1 TV reality show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew." The show featured celebrities receiving drug treatment from an addiction specialist, Dr. Drew Pinsky, in Pasadena.

He ran into trouble with the law again in July.

Moreno Valley police arrested him on suspicion of driving while under the influence after stopping his car near the corner of Frederick Street and Brabham Drive.

His book, "The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption," was released in April. The book chronicles the King beating and his struggles with alcohol and substance abuse.






Well, he obviously had problems. He was probably on something when he drowned.

Lol I remember when that nigga crashed his shit, I was livin right around the corner. Hey ryda I think that u should add the part about him gettin shot in the 5's to the timeline, I forgot all about that shit.