Where’s the truck? That’s the question being asked by the two California women who were the target of a hail of LAPD bullets last month when they were delivering morning newspapers in their truck and were mistaken for fugitive cop killer Christopher Dorner. Neither the women nor their pickup truck bore any resemblance to Dorner or his truck.
A month later, the women, Margie Carranza, 47, and her mother Emma Hernandez, 71, still do not have the replacement truck promised them by police Chief Charlie Beck, who had visited them in their home to apologize for LAPD’s mistake. Their truck was riddled with bullets, Hernandez was shot twice in the back, and Carranza was injured by flying glass. They haven’t been able to resume work since the incident.
The LAPD and the car dealer who was tapped to fulfill Beck’s promise say they have tried to work with the women, but have been met with unreasonable requests. An attorney for the women say the LAPD’s story is full of holes.
The Feb. 7 incident took place in the midst of the most intense manhunt in California history for Dorner, who had been engaged in a killing spree — ultimately killing four people — while driving a gray Nissan Titan pickup.
But officers who were assigned to protect a police official who had been targeted by Dorner mistook the blue Toyota Tacoma driven by Hernandez and Carranza for Dorner’s gray Nissan. The officers fired a staggering 102 bullets into the truck, miraculously not killing either women.
Bert Boeckmann, owner of Los Angeles-based Galpin Motors, who was asked by Beck to handle the truck replacement, said his efforts to provide them with a vehicle have been fruitless. He accused them of seeking a botched deal to get more media coverage for an impending lawsuit against the city.
“We’re huge on charitable giving,” Boeckmann, who claims to own the largest Ford retailer in the U.S., told The Huffington Post. “I’ve never had someone show such a lack of appreciation.”
According to Glen Jonas, attorney for the women, the sticking point was the insistence by Boeckmann that the truck be categorized as a prize, meaning the women would be responsible for paying income tax on the vehicle.
“At that point, we told them to go f*** themselves,” Jonas told The Huffington Post. “Getting 102 bullet holes in your truck is not a prize or reward. They were not dealing with us in good faith.”
Since the LAPD promised to donate the truck, Jonas said, the gift tax should be levied on the giver, not income tax on the recipient.
“Either LAPD or Galpin can pay [the gift tax],” Jonas said. “They broke their promise and found a creative way to get out of the obligation.”
LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith told the local NBC affiliate, “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.” He added, “The government has to take their bite out of it, I guess.”
Jonas said he plans to file a government claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, on behalf of his clients against the LAPD next week over the shooting incident.
