King Is Issued Warning After New Traffic Stop

Altadena motorist Rodney G. King was stopped by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy over the weekend and warned for driving a car with an expired registration, tinted windows and failure to have a driver’s license in his possession, authorities said Thursday.

Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Larry Lincoln said the deputy who stopped King in Santa Fe Springs Saturday evening also warned the police-beating victim about a 2-year-old, $1,000 traffic warrant reported outstanding against King in Orange County.

King told the deputy he had recently acquired the car and was having ownership papers transferred, Lincoln said. King’s lawyer, Steven A. Lerman, said Thursday his client’s newly acquired auto had temporary registration tags.

“He was informed about a supposed outstanding traffic warrant that he thought was a mistake,” Lerman said.

Whether a deputy cites or arrests a motorist in the field depends on the deputy’s judgment of the circumstances, Lincoln said. In King’s case, the sergeant said, “I wouldn’t consider it usual or unusual.”