Ex-officer involved in Rodney King beating sentenced for DUI

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – A former Los Angeles police sergeant who went to prison for beating black motorist Rodney King has been sentenced after pleading no contest to driving under the influence.

City News Service says a judge on Wednesday sentenced Stacy Koon to three years of probation. He also fined Koon $390 and ordered him to attend a DUI class.

Koon was arrested after crashing into a parked vehicle on May 1 in the Castaic area. He wasn’t hurt.

Koon and three other LAPD officers were charged with using excessive force in the 1991 videotaped beating of King that made international headlines. Their acquittal on state charges led to riots that claimed dozens of lives.

Koon and Officer Laurence Powell later went to prison on federal civil rights charges. Koon was released in 1995.