Attorney: New Truck Offered To Women Shot During Dorner Manhunt Comes With Strings Attached
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The attorney of two women who were mistakenly shot at by Los Angeles police officers during the hunt for Christopher Dorner said an offer to replace the victims' bullet-riddled truck comes with strings attached.
Emma Hernandez, 71, and her daughter, Margie Carranza, were delivering newspapers in Torrance Feb. 7 when officers fired more than 100 rounds on the women's Toyota Tacoma.
Hernandez was struck by gunfire in the back and Carranza was injured by broken glass.
Chief Charlie Beck later said the cops thought the truck was being driven by Dorner and promised the women a brand new vehicle.
Bert Boeckmann, a former police commissioner and the owner of Galpin Ford, said Beck asked him if he could help out.
Boeckmann said he offered the women a white Ford pickup truck with a sticker price of $32,000 and proposed to pay the tax and license.
All he wanted in return was a picture with Margie Carranza.
Attorney Glen Jonas, however, said that would never happen.
"I made it clear from the moment that I met the chief that there will never be a photo opportunity. My client is not a pony to be trotted out to the press to put a smile on her face after she's been shot at," he said.
Jonas also said Carranza was told she would not be allowed to sell the truck for a year and she would need to add the value of the truck as income and pay income tax on that amount.
"That would create a tax burden of approximately $10,000 that my client can't afford to pay," said Jonas.
He continued, "The (LAPD officers) tried to murder the woman, you put 102 bullet holes in her truck, now you're telling her she can't have a 4-wheel drive, you're telling her she can't sell it and she's gotta be taxed on it."
Boeckmann said he can't understand why Carranza won't accept the truck.
"All of a sudden the attorneys are talking and I'm the bad guy. All I'm doing is giving something and getting nothing for it. What is it they say…no good deed goes unpunished? This is the first case I've seen of it," he said.
