Visions, guns and tweets: Unusual claims to Dorner reward rejected

While the man who was carjacked by Christopher Dorner is getting most of the attention in his bid for a piece of a $1-million reward, little attention has been paid to nine other parties who also unsuccessfully staked a claim to the cash.

If Richard Heltebrake -- who saw Dorner and called authorities while the wanted former police officer was exchanging gunfire -- can’t get a portion of the reward, what chance did they have?

Based on most of the claims, not any.

A dozen parties filed claims under the Los Angeles Police Department’s revised guidelines seeking a portion of the money available for information that helped lead to the capture of Dorner, a former LAPD officer. Police considered Dorner “captured” when he was holed up in a Big Bear cabin where he eventually shot himself.

A panel of three retired judges determined that 80% of the money would go to a couple who were bound and gagged by Dorner in their Big Bear cabin. A ski resort employee who spotted Dorner’s burning truck was awarded 15%; and a tow truck driver who called 911 after Dorner shot officers in Corona was given 5%.

But the claims from the nine other parties – not counting Heltebrake, who didn’t file a claim under the revised LAPD rules – spanned the gamut, from seeing “visions” of Dorner to vague tweets at Chief Charlie Beck’s Twitter account, according to the report.

One woman, Ramona Hall, said that she had a “vision” about a storage facility in L.A. that belonged to Dorner. However, she didn’t call police about it and didn’t help them find Dorner.

Tasha Prince, who according to her Twitter profile, lives in Kentucky, claimed that her tweet to Chief Charlie Beck in February saying Dorner would be found in the woods was enough to deserve some of the money. The panel of judges determined it wasn’t.

Tiirobii Tiirobii filed a claim saying he called police and told them Dorner would be caught “exactly where he was caught.” There’s no record of Tiirobii calling police and his information wasn’t specific, police said.

Pearl Burt posted something on the Dorner hunt on Facebook. But police said she didn’t contact authorities immediately or help pinpoint his location.

Andrew Park gave his opinion on the Dorner manifesto to Suffolk police, but the information wasn’t relevant.

Ted Scofield, who is familiar with Big Bear Lake, claimed he called police to report possible hiding spots for Dorner. Police said there was no record of his call, and he didn’t help find the former cop.

Andrew Holguin helped LAPD officers after they were wounded by Dorner in Corona on Feb. 7 and gave them his cellphone to alert more police, but that assistance did not ultimately help track Dorner down.

There was a similar conclusion for Karam Kaoud, who gave first-aid to Riverside police after Dorner ambushed them Feb. 7. Though Kaoud told police which way Dorner fled, it didn’t help lead to his eventual capture and death.

Lastly, Eligio and Mary Ramirez’s claim was rejected because their information didn’t help police track down Dorner. The couple told police which way Dorner was fleeing after he carjacked Heltebrake’s truck, but by then, police had already encountered Dorner, according to the report. The pair found one of Dorner’s handguns in the snow after his death, but that also didn’t lead to Dorner, officials concluded.

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Joseph.serna@latimes.com

@josephserna