LA riots victim King `drank, smoked weed` before death

Washington, June 18 (ANI): Rodney King, the man whose 1991 videotaped beating by police led to the Los Angeles riots, has been found dead.

King's fiancee told friends that he was drinking all day and had smoked marijuana befor his death.

According to the Herald Sun, King's fiancee found him dead in a swimming pool.

King's representative, Suzanne Wickman, confirmed that King's fiancee found him dead at his home.

Police sources said that officers had received a call from a home in Rialto at 5.25 a.m.

They removed King from the bottom of a swimming pool and attempted cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

On March 3, 1991, Los Angeles Police Department officers beat King after a high-speed car chase that was captured on camera by a bystander and aired around the world.

Four officers were tried for assault, but were acquitted, which sparked off the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. (ANI)