Victim Reginald Denny

Truck driver Reginald Oliver Denny became a victim of racial anger and payback in 1992 when he was pulled from his truck cab and badly beaten during the Los Angeles riots, which had been prompted by the acquittal of four white LAPD policemen in the earlier beating of a black man.

Denny was driving an 18-wheeler full of sand when he stopped at a South LA intersection and was accosted, kicked, hit with a hammer and a piece of concrete, spat upon, pelted with beer bottles, and robbed.

Finally, four African-American men who lived nearby came to his rescue. Denny suffered a seizure and had a fractured skull.

The entire assault was caught on videotape by the crew of a news helicopter. Denny's assailants were brought to trial but were acquitted on most charges.