Stacey Koon pleads not guilty to DUI charge

Stacey Koon, one of the officers convicted after the 1991 Rodney King beating incident, pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday to the charge of driving under the influence of alcohol filed in connection with a Castaic traffic collision in May.

Koon appeared in court at the Santa Clarita Courthouse.

“Case 8SC02954 charges him with one misdemeanor count each of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and driving with a .08 percent blood-alcohol content,” Ricardo Santiago, spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said last month.

Koon, 67, a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who now lives in Castaic, was arrested about 3:30 p.m. on May 4.

California Highway Patrol Officer K. Holeman wrote in a report of the incident issued at the time that he “was involved in a two-vehicle collision – vehicle versus parked vehicle — on Heather Lane at Greenwood Place.”

“Officer Koon was the only individual involved in the collision and sustained no visible, nor claimed any injuries, as a result of the collision,” Holeman wrote in the report

It was also noted in the CHP report that Koon “remained polite and cooperative throughout the incident.”

Koon gained notoriety in 1991 following news coverage of a high-speed chase involving Rodney King. Koon and four other officers were tried in court on allegations of excessive force and was later acquitted.

In 1993, however, Koon was convicted of having violated King’s civil rights and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

He was released from prison in October 1995.