Women shot by LAPD during Dorner manhunt to get settlement

A settlement has been reached with two women mistakenly shot by Los Angeles police during the manhunt for fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner, Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich announced Tuesday.

Details of the deal were not released; a statement from Trutanich’s office said they would be made available at a 2 p.m. news conference.

Margie Carranza, 47, and her mother, Emma Hernandez, 71, were delivering newspapers in Torrance on Feb. 7 when LAPD officers fired repeatedly on their blue Toyota Tacoma. Hernandez was shot twice in the back, and Carranza was injured by broken glass, an attorney for the women said.

FULL COVERAGE: Sweeping manhunt for ex-cop

The officers were protecting the home of a high-ranking LAPD official named in a threatening manifesto authorities said was written by Dorner, and they believed that official could have been a potential target. Dorner at the time had already killed the daughter of an LAPD captain, her fiance -- a USC police officer -- and a Riverside police officer, officials said.

Dorner was believed to be driving a gray Nissan Titan and there was an alert preceding the shooting that said a truck matching Dorner’s was in the area.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called the shooting “a tragic misinterpretation” by officers working under “incredible tension” hours after Dorner allegedly shot police officers. Beck promised to provide a truck from a donor regardless of potential litigation by the women.

Last month, the women received a $40,000 check from the city to cover the loss of the truck. That deal came several weeks after the women were promised a new truck -- and two days after they publicly complained through their attorney that they had not received a new vehicle.

The women’s attorney, Glen Jonas, said they were first offered a used truck, then a non-four-wheel-drive Ford to replace their four-wheel-drive Toyota. The women also had to agree not to sell it for a year. His clients agreed to that truck, he said.

But then the dealership and LAPD officials said the truck would be considered a prize for tax purposes, Jonas said. “Essentially, they’d have to pay taxes like they won it on a game show.”

When announcing the check had been delivered, Trutanich said the settlement was “the legal and morally right thing to do both for the individuals involved and the taxpayers of this city.”

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