officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 (R~y. 5,;.8·81)
•(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
;
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Atty. Gen~·Agrees to Conduct
·RobberyinvestigatiQn ofl(j~g
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By LESLIE BERGER
TIMES STAFF WRITER
The state attorney general;s office
has agreed to investigate·
whether Rodney G. King committed
an armed robbery 10 days
before his beating by police, officials
said Thursday.
The Los Angeles Police Department,
under fire for the nationally
televised beating of King, asked
the .state to handle the case to
avoid a potential conflict of interest.
The F~b. 21 robbery occurred
·in Sun Valley in the Police Department's
Foothill Division, the patrol
area in which King was arrested
·March 3 for alleged speeding._
Officials said state agents would
start from scratch in checking
allegations that King committed
the robbery. A store clerk was shot
in the shoulder. in -the robbery at
1:40 p.m. at Video All Stars, in the
8700 block of Glenoaks Boulevard.
"We are conducting the investi-.
gation because the LAPD says he is
a suspect, but as far as w~'re
concerned, we are starting at step
one," said Kati Corsaut, a state
spokeswoman. Special Agent David
Genens, in charge of the offic~'s
investigation bureau, said-the mat- .
ter "..yill be given top priority."
Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Rick
Dinse said the department stopped
its own investigation as soon as
King became a ·suspect. He and
other police officials have declined
to disclose how King, who was
convicted of robbery in 1989, was
connected to the Feb. 21 case.
King's attorney, Steven Lerman,
charged . Thursday that the police
· were conducting "a smear campaign
.... to besmirch Mr. King's
credibility in the hopes of lowering
a jury award.'~
·"They almost killed this guy and
now they're. trying to smear his
r~putation," Lerman said.,
Dinse responded: "This is not a
smear campaign in any fashion.
. . . Even ·if this were proven
·- to be true, it would still not change
anything that is in the proc.ess of
happening in the King incident."
Four LAPD officers have been ;
indicted for King's beating, and 17j
other LAPD officers are under
investigation for their r9les during i
his arrest.
I
Date: LOS ANGELES TIMES
Edition:FRI • MAR 2 9 1 19 91
FRONT SECTION, PAGE 22
Trtle:ATTY. GEN. AGREES TO
CONDUCT ROBBERY
INVESTIGATION OF KING
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
o(
Classifteation: 8 0-3 3 B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
SEARCHED'--- INOEXEO ___ I
SERIAliZEO-...-- fiLED----1
APR ). 3 1991
FBI -LOS ANGELES d
1/Jrr I