Council Awards Victim of Shooting $1.2 Million : Witnesses: Police knew of a threat to kill the man testifying in a robbery case but never warned him.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to award $1.2 million to a former North Hollywood theater manager who was critically shot after police learned about a threat to kill the man but never warned him.

George Carpenter, 45, continues to suffer facial nerve damage and other physical and psychological injuries from the July 4, 1985, shooting that police believe was meant to stop Carpenter from testifying about a robbery he had witnessed at a North Hollywood theater he managed.

A Los Angeles Police Department investigation into the case determined that an LAPD detective had assured Carpenter that the robbery suspect was no threat, but other officers later learned that the suspect was soliciting a “contract hit” on Carpenter. Carpenter was never warned.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled in May, 1991, that the city became liable for the shooting when police assured Carpenter that he was in no danger.

In a statement issued through his attorney, Thomas G. Stolpman, Carpenter said he was happy that the City Council approved his award and has promised to review the LAPD’s policy for warning potential witnesses about similar threats.

“The city is finally doing what I have always wanted--taking positive action to prevent other victims from being injured like I was,” he said. “Now, I can finally begin to put my life back together again after living in limbo for almost 10 years.”

Carpenter, who lives in seclusion outside the state, said he can now put the case behind him.

“Most of all, I feel relieved that this episode of my life is over,” he said. “I lost my health and my career because the police didn’t bother to follow up after finding out that I was in great danger.”

The bizarre case began in October, 1984, when Daniel S. Jenkins robbed Carpenter at gunpoint at the United Artists movie theater that he managed, according to a city attorney’s report on the case.

Based on information from Carpenter, police arrested Jenkins. During the preliminary hearing on the robbery, Jenkins threatened Carpenter, but LAPD Detective Thomas C. Williams assured Carpenter that Jenkins was just a “street punk” and not a real threat, the report said.

But on July 4, 1985, Carpenter was shot by a gunman four times as he was having dinner next door to the theater, according to the report. He survived the shooting and was put in a witness protection program.

Three months later, after testifying against Jenkins in the robbery case, Williams was shot and killed in an ambush as he was picking up his son from a Canoga Park church school on Halloween night.

Jenkins was later convicted of the robbery and in 1988 was also convicted of the attempted murder of Carpenter and the murder of Williams. He is currently on death row awaiting execution.

Later, a police investigation into Williams’ murder determined that three months before Carpenter was shot, two officers had interviewed an informant in Los Angeles County Jail who told them that Jenkins had been soliciting a “contract hit” on Carpenter, according to the city attorney report.

The officers who interviewed the informant passed the information on to the LAPD’s North Hollywood Division, the report said. However, a North Hollywood officer denied he had received the warning and it was never passed on to Williams or Carpenter, according to the report.

City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who recommended that the LAPD draft a report on its steps for warning witnesses of potential threats, said he hopes the case will force police to be more vigilant about protecting witnesses.

“So the $1.2-million settlement should not only have the effect of compensating the victim but of getting the attention of city policy makers,” he said.