on the evening of march 3, 1991, rodney king and two passengers were driving west on the foothill freeway (i-210) through the lake view terrace neighborhood of los angeles. the california highway patrol (chp) attempted to initiate a traffic stop. a high-speed pursuit ensued with speeds estimated at up to , along freeways and then through residential neighborhoods. when king stopped, chp officer timothy singer and chp officer melanie singer (timothy singer's wife), arrested him and two other occupants of the car.