By Melissa Pinion-Whitt
San Bernardino County Sun
RIALTO, Calif. — 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 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 1 1/2 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.
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