Phil Speat said he “felt numb” after...
Phil Speat said he “felt numb” after watching live television coverage of rioters in South Los Angeles beating and kicking Covina truck driver Reginald Denny.
On April 29--shortly after verdicts were announced in the trial of four white Los Angeles police officers charged in the beating of black Altadena motorist Rodney G. King--Denny was carrying a load of gravel when he was accosted at Florence and Normandie avenues. Four men were arrested and charged in the beating.
“The more I looked at the whole situation the sicker I got inside,” recalled Speat, leader of the local musical group Cleanhead Blues Band.
Known as the “Cleanhead Man,” Speat said he wanted to do something to help the 36-year-old truck driver, who underwent extensive reconstructive surgery to repair crushed facial bones. So Speat and Andrew Evatt, owner of Boar’s Head, a Covina restaurant and bar, decided to hold a musical benefit.
The 13-hour fund-raiser will begin at noon today , at the club, 750 Terrado Plaza, near Citrus and Workman avenues.
Other groups set to perform are the Sin Twins, G-Spot Band, Stan West Band, Roxygen, Johnny Alibi and the Excuse, Greenhouse Blues Band, Smooth Action, Sir Real and the Screamin’ Gerbils.
The $5 cover charge includes free food, door prizes and a raffle, said Dan Boardman, manager of the Boar’s Head. Proceeds will go to Denny and his family.
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