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.
UPDATE: City Attorney Vows to Help Get Compensation for Delivery Women
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.
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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."
