King has agreed to turn himself in to authorities

March 5, 1999
Web posted at: 12:49 p.m. EST (1749 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- An arrest warrant over charges of domestic violence has been issued for Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by Los Angeles police sparked riots in 1992.

King is aware of the warrant and has agreed to turn himself in Friday to face misdemeanor charges of spousal abuse, corporal injury to a child and malicious mischief, said Melanie Kellner, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department.

Carmen Simpson, who said she was King's girlfriend and the mother of one of his daughters, told KNBC-TV that King injured the 16-year-old girl during a domestic dispute last month.

The warrant has been filed through the San Bernardino District Attorney's office, near Los Angeles, where King is thought to reside, Kellner said.

King served a 90-day sentence in 1997 for a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction.

King, who is black, gained international attention when his beating by Los Angeles Police Department officers in 1991 was captured on videotape. The 1992 acquittal of four white officers in the beating trial sparked three days of rioting.

In April 1994, a jury awarded King $3.8 million in damages.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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