No New Truck for Women Shot During Dorner Manhunt



Officers opened fire on the newspaper delivery women, piercing their pickup truck with more than 100 bullet holes.







The two newspaper delivery women who were shot at during the manhunt for Christopher Dorner will not be getting a new replacement truck as promised by the LAPD, according to their attorney Glen Jonas.



It has been more than a month since LAPD Chief Charlie Beck promised the truck to Emma Hernandez, 71, and her daughter, Margie Carranza, who had been working in Torrance, Calif. before dawn on Feb. 7.



Police said it was a "case of mistaken identity" that prompted officers to open fire on the women. Beck later apologized and promised to replace their truck, now riddled with bullet holes.



According to Jonas, LAPD and Galpin Ford wanted his clients to pose for a photo opportunity and pay income tax on the truck. The women no longer want the truck after they were told they needed to fill out a 1099 form for the donation, Jonas said Monday.



"You tried to murder the woman, now you're telling her she can't have a four-wheel drive, you're telling her she can't sell it and you've got to be taxed on it?" Jonas said. "How would anyone react to that?"



Jonas plans on filing a government claim, which is a precursor to any lawsuit filed against a government agency. He said he felt the truck was being touted as a "reward or prize" instead of a sincere gesture by the LAPD.



Galpin Ford estimates the value of the truck – a 2013 Ford 150 SuperCrew – at $32,560. The dealership had planned on paying the sales tax, vehicle registration and title on the truck, according to a dealership spokesperson.



"It's really sad for us because we want to help these women move on with their lives, and help them move forward with that, we just can't get past the 1099 issue," LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said. "The government has to take their bite out of it, I guess."



The women's Toyota Tacoma was pierced with 102 bullet holes from the Feb. 7 shooting, according to Jonas. Emma Hernandez is still recovering from two bullet wounds to her neck, which are giving her life-threatening complications, according to Jonas, who described what his clients went through that morning.



"The grandmother, Emma, starts saying, ‘God have mercy on us,’ because she thinks for sure they're going to die," Jonas said. "She then clutches around the back seat of her daughter to protect her from the gun shots because her daughter has children."



The pair was driving a dark-colored pickup truck when they slowly approached the home of an officer named in ex-officer Christopher Dorner’s angry manifesto. Apparently thinking Dorner was inside, police opened fire on the truck.



After the shooting, Jonas said he was shocked by the officers’ actions. He said neither the size of the women nor the blue Toyota Tundra truck they were in matched the description of Dorner's Nissan Titan.



Eight officers were involved in the shooting. They were assigned to non-field assignments "until the (police) chief decides otherwise."

The two women shot and wounded by Los Angeles police during the manhunt for renegade ex-officer Christopher Dorner are "not doing well," their attorney said Thursday at a news conference to announce a resolution to the loss of their bullet-riddled pickup truck.



Margie Carranza, 47, and her mother, Emma Hernandez, 71, will receive $40,000 to replace the truck, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said.



Carranza and Hernandez were shot as police searched for Dorner, a former police officer who was wanted for killing several people in early February.



The two women were in a truck similar to the one authorities said Dorner was driving.



"They're not doing well," attorney Glen Jonas said. "Margie is still very emotionally impacted by what happened. Emma is suffering as far as her injuries are concerned."



Hernandez was shot twice in the back, and Carranza suffered injuries from broken glass, CNN affiliate KTLA reported.



Trutanich told reporters that now that the issues with the truck are settled, lawyers can turn their attention to the personal injury issues.



The lawyers said they had to find a creative solution to get the women a new truck because of tax laws. Essentially the $40,000 is for the value of the truck, Jonas' fees, compensation for the time the women have gone without a truck and other matters.



Jonas waived his fees, which would have amounted to about $25,000, he said.



"We wanted to get this issue resolved because it is draining a lot of energy," Jonas said.



He would not comment on how much the women will seek in compensation for their physical injuries and emotional distress.



Dorner died February 12 while holed up in a cabin that caught fire when police fired tear gas canisters into it. Days before, he had killed four people and wounded three others as part of a vendetta against his former comrades before apparently taking his own life in the cabin.