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City Will Give Women Shot By LAPD During Dorner Manhunt $40K For a New Truck
Just days after an attorney for two women mistakenly shot by Los Angeles Police officers during the manhunt for Christopher Dorner brought it to the public's attention his clients had still not been given a replacement vehicle over a month after their was riddled with bullet holes, the L.A. City Attorney has announced a settlement with those women.
Emma Hernandez, 71, and daughter, Margie Carranza, 47, will receive $40,000 to compensate for the loss of their Toyota Tacoma, revealed City Attorney Carmen Trutanich in a press conference Thursday afternoon.
The L.A. Times notes that this settlement is just focused on the vehicle, as promised to the women by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck soon after the shooting mishap:
Officials stressed that this deal was to compensate the women for the loss of the truck and is separate from any discussions regarding potential litigation involving the LAPD shooting incident in Torrance.
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At the start of the Dorner manhunt, the truck occupied by Hernandez and Carranza was spotted by officers from the LAPD's Hollywood Division the morning of February 7. The police were on protective detail on a residential street in Torrance, there to ensure the safety of an individual named in Dorner's "manifesto" against the LAPD, when they saw the vehicle slowly moving down the street with the lights off.
The women were doing their job of delivering newspapers.
The officers opened fire on the truck, striking Hernandez and Carranza. The truck was riddled with bullet holes, the women both injured.
Their attorney, Glen Jonas says the LAPD first offered the women a used truck. Then they were offered a "non-four-wheel-drive Ford to replace their four-wheel-drive Toyota." Other conditions include having to agree not to sell the vehicle for a year. Then came the news they'd have to pay the taxes on the vehicle, since the truck would be classified by the dealership as a prize, placing a financial burden on the women who have not gone back to their job since the shooting.
The LAPD will keep the newspaper women's truck as part of their investigation into the shooting Beck called a case of "mistaken identity." The officers involved in that shooting have all been placed on desk duty.
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