False Reports Of Dorner Sightings Spike After Reward Offered

TARZANA (CBSLA.com) — Law enforcement officials have been flooded with calls from the public after offering a $1 million reward for any information leading to the capture of triple homicide suspect Christopher Dorner.

KCAL9's Serene Branson reports while most of those tips may not go anywhere, police say they have to check out each one just to be safe.

Heavily-armed officers swarmed a KFC restaurant in Tarzana after receiving a tip saying someone who resembled Dorner was inside.

"I saw the guy coming out with bag of chicken, all of a sudden cops tell him, 'Hands up', pull him aside and arrest him, more cops come," said Eileen Rodriguez, who works right across the street and watched the whole ordeal from her windows.

"It was different guns, not just normal cops," she said. "Even co-workers start filming...I was like, 'What if it is the guy and they start shooting?'"

Authorities soon realized the man barely even resembled Christopher Dorner.

Some coworkers said it coulda looked similar to him, but I think, yeah, because of race, it could've," Rodriguez said. "Just dark skin could be."

On Sunday night, officers went to a Lowe's store in Northridge after receiving a similar call from someone saying they spotted Dorner.

Law enforcement agencies across the region are doing everything we can to find this individual," said LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman, adding police have to take every call seriously and cautiously.

However, Neiman said police understand the public may rush to judgment out of fear and with the right intentions.

"Very few have been hoaxes, I think some believe they've seen Dorner, some have very limited information and based on the type of clue that we get, we have to prioritize," said Neiman.

Police say anyone who has seen Dorner is asked to call 911 immediately.

Anyone with other information that could help detectives find Dorner is asked to call (213) 486-6860 or call Crime Stoppers at
(800) 222-TIPS or (800) 222-8477.