HOLLYWOOD : 2 Arrested in Beating of Evangelist During Riots

Acting on a tip, Los Angeles police have arrested two men suspected of severely beating a Pasadena evangelist who was trying to stop looters at a Hollywood shopping center during the second night of riots following the Rodney G. King verdicts.

Sosa Leonard, 23, and Fidel Ortiz, 20, both of Los Angeles, were arrested Friday in connection with the attack on Wallace Tope, authorities said. Tope has been in a coma since the April 30 beating.

The attack occurred in the parking lot of a Sav-on drugstore at the corner of Western Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. Tope had gone to the corner to stop the looting and preach. Two men from the crowd began to beat him, authorities said. When Tope attempted to flee, he fell to the ground, and the men kicked him repeatedly in the head, authorities said.