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POMONA, Calif. -- Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by police officers led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, pleaded innocent Tuesday to a charge of being under the influence of the drug PCP.
King represented himself in court; a pretrial hearing was set for Nov. 9.
King was arrested Aug. 28 at a hotel after a clerk told officers he appeared to be on drugs when he mistakenly reported his car had been stolen. Instead, his girlfriend had taken the car.
In a separate case, Los Angeles County prosecutors were considering whether to charge King following his arrest Saturday near a park. People alleged King exposed himself, and police said he displayed symptoms of being on PCP.
King, 36, has twice spent 90 days in jail for convictions in the past few years. He remains on probation in San Bernardino County for abusing the mother of his teen-age daughter in March 1999.
The videotaped beating led to riots when four officers were acquitted. Two officers were later convicted of violating King's civil rights, and he got $3.8 million from the city when it settled his civil rights lawsuit.
