This guy was resisting arrest and they had a probable cause to arrest him, having caught him selling illegal cigarettes. Rodney King hadn't done anything wrong other than try to get away from police (Unless being drunk while on parole was illegal. He wasn't sure and that was the reason why he ran.) The police had not seen him doing anything illegal, they just thought his behaviour was suspicious so they chased him and then beat him severely while he was NOT resisting arrest and was in fact crying for help.
This time the death was accidental due to police brutality and bad luck, the fact that Mr. King survived his dose of police brutality was due to good luck, he might have died from his injuries as well (imagine how bad the riots would have been then.)
So, I still think that Rodney King case was tiny bit worse despite the different outcomes for the victim.