LOS ANGELES : 2 Ordered to Stand Trial in Beating of Motorist

Two men were ordered Monday to stand trial on charges that they beat and robbed a motorist and attacked his two passengers on the first night of the riots.

After a four-hour preliminary hearing, Los Angeles Municipal Judge Larry Fidler decided that there was enough evidence to hold Anthony Lamar Brown and Lewis Curl Foster to answer to charges stemming from attacks that took place at Florence and Normandie avenues on April 29.

Brown, 24, is charged with two counts each of assault and robbery for allegedly beating motorist Manuel Vaca and taking some of his jewelry and money.

The alleged attack occurred after Vaca’s car crashed into another auto at the intersection where violence erupted hours after the verdicts were announced in the Rodney G. King beating case.

Brown also faces trial on a charge of misdemeanor battery for allegedly spitting on Reginald Denny as the trucker lay semiconscious after being pulled from his truck and beaten.

Foster, 40, is accused of beating Vaca, and of robbing and assaulting Vaca’s wife, Maria, and brother, Alphonso. Prosecutors contend that although Foster never touched Maria or Alphonso Vaca, he caused them to be set upon by the crowd as he attacked Manuel Vaca.