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Dorner case: Women shot by cops still don’t have truck promised by LAPD

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Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck so far hasn’t come through on a promise to provide a new truck for two women injured by officers in pursuit of fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner, an attorney for the women said Monday.

Beck last month pledged to provide the truck to Margie Carranza, 47, and her mother, Emma Hernandez, 71, who were delivering newspapers in Torrance when LAPD officers riddled their blue Toyota Tacoma with bullets. Dorner was believed to be driving a gray Nissan Titan.

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Hernandez was shot twice in the back, and Carranza sustained injuries from broken glass.

FULL COVERAGE: Sweeping manhunt for ex-cop

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

But Glen Jonas, an attorney for the woman, said the women are still without a truck.

‘After they shot my clients ... this broken promise of a truck donation and the nonsense that followed is a slap in the face,’ Jonas said.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Jonas said the women were first offered a used truck, then a non-four-wheel drive Ford to replace their Toyota four-wheel drive vehicle. 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.

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‘Essentially, they’d have to pay taxes like they won it on a game show,’ Jonas said.

WHO THEY WERE: Victims in the Dorner case

Jonas said what makes the situation all the more difficult is that the women haven’t been able to work since being injured during the shooting. He said they received no warning before the officers opened fire and that it is incredible they survived. LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the department, working with a car dealership, was able to secure a new truck for the women and even covered the taxes and fees associated with the vehicle.

However, he said, the dealership has advised those involved that the vehicle must be legally declared for tax purposes. ‘We are trying to work it out,’ Smith said.

Hernandez has been released from the hospital and is recuperating at home. Smith and Beck met separately with the two women shortly after the shooting.

The seven officers involved in the matter are assigned to desk duty pending a resolution of an internal probe into the shooting that also left holes in several homes in the Torrance cul-de-sac.

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

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-- Richard Winton

Christopher Dorner. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

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