Attack On Reginald Denny - Events of April 29, 1992

Events of April 29, 1992

On April 29, 1992, at 5:39 PM, Denny loaded his red, 18-wheel truck with 27 tons of sand and began driving to a plant in Inglewood where he said the sand was due. He left the Santa Monica Freeway and took a familiar shortcut across Florence Avenue to get to his destination. His truck did not have a radio, so he did not realize that he was driving into a riot. At 6:46 p.m., after entering the intersection at Normandie, rioters threw rocks at his windows and he heard people shouting for him to stop. Overhead, a news helicopter with reporter Bob Tur aboard captured the events that followed.

Denny stopped in the middle of the street. Antoine Miller opened the truck door, giving others the chance to pull Denny out. Another man, Henry Keith Watson, then held Denny's head down with his foot. Denny was kicked in the abdomen by an unidentified man. Two other unidentified men who had led a liquor store break-in earlier that day hurled a five-pound piece of medical equipment at Denny's head and hit him three times with a claw hammer. Damian Williams then threw a slab of concrete at Denny's head and knocked him unconscious.

Williams then did a victory dance over Denny. He then flashed gang signs at news helicopters, which were televising the events live, and pointed and laughed at Denny. Anthony Brown then spat on Denny and left with Williams. Several bystanders took pictures of Denny but did not attempt to help him. LAPD officers in the vicinity that the attack took place did not provide help to Denny.

After the beating, various men threw beer bottles at the unconscious Denny. Gary Williams approached Denny and rifled through his pockets. Lance Parker stopped near Denny and attempted to shoot the fuel tank of Denny's truck but missed.

Bobby Green (a truck driver), Titus Murphy and Terri Barnett (boyfriend and girlfriend), and Lei Yuille (a dietitian), who had been watching the events on TV, came to Denny's aid. Denny eventually regained consciousness and dragged himself back into the cab, driving away from the scene slowly and erratically;. Green, himself a truck driver, boarded Denny's truck and took over at the wheel, driving him to the hospital. At the time that Green took over, Denny was on the brink of losing consciousness again, and suffered a seizure shortly thereafter.

Paramedics who attended to Denny said he came very close to death. His skull was fractured in 91 places and pushed into the brain. His left eye was so badly dislocated that it would have fallen into his sinus cavity had the surgeons not replaced the crushed bone with a piece of plastic. A permanent crater remains in his head despite efforts to correct it. Denny had to undergo years of rehabilitative therapy and his speech and ability to walk were permanently damaged.