Rodney King has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Southern California.
King, whose videotaped beating by police ultimately led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, was arrested on Tuesday, police said.
King was driving a 1994 Mitsubishi when he was pulled over in a routine traffic stop around 3:30 pm in Moreno Valley, in Southern California’s Riverside County, according to officials, reports CBS station KCBS.
King was given a field sobriety test and then taken to the Moreno Valley sheriff’s station on suspicion of a DUI.
Cops said it wasn’t clear whether King was drunk or high on drugs. He was booked after further evaluation and his bail was set at $2,500.
King, 46, has battled sobriety publicly and appeared on reality television shows “Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab” in 2008 and “Sober House” in 2009.
His 1991 beating by Los Angeles police officers after a traffic stop left him with skull fractures and kidney damage. The incident was caught on video tape by a bystander and four officers were indicted as a result.
But their trial the next year resulted in three acquittals and a mistrial in the suburb of Simi Valley. The verdicts triggered three days of riots in African-American neighborhoods. In the end, 55 people were dead, more than 2,000 were hurt, and property damage exceeded $1 billion.
Two of the officers were later convicted of federal civil rights charges, and King won $3.8 million in damages from the city in a civil suit.
King has had a string of run-ins with the law, including a 90-day jail term in 1996 for a hit-and-run involving his wife at the time, and pleaded guilty in 2004 to reckless driving and driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
