Women Accidentally Shot by LAPD Won't Get New Truck, Despite Promises
After their truck was plugged with more than 100 bullets, two women accidentally shot by the LAPD in the manhunt for Christopher Dorner are not getting the replacement vehicle they were promised over a month ago.
NBC 4 in LA reports that 71-year-old Emma Hernandez and her daughter, who had been delivering newspapers when eight police officers opened fire on them out of the blue, no longer want the new truck after being told they'd need to pose for a photo op and pay income tax on it. The truck was valued at $32,560.
According to [the women's lawyer, Glen] Jonas, LAPD and Galpin Ford wanted his clients to pose for a photo opportunity and pay income tax on the truck. The women no longer want the truck after they were told they needed to fill out a 1099 form for the donation, Jonas said Monday.
"You tried to murder the woman, now you're telling her she can't have a four-wheel drive, you're telling her she can't sell it and you've got to be taxed on it?" Jonas said. "How would anyone react to that?"
Jonas plans on filing a government claim, which is a precursor to any lawsuit filed against a government agency. He said he felt the truck was being touted as a "reward or prize" instead of a sincere gesture by the LAPD.
An LAPD spokesperson, Commander Andrew Smith, told NBC 4 that it is "sad" but the department "just can't get past the 1099 issue," referencing the tax form one must fill out to claim income separate from wages. "The government has to take their bite out of it, I guess," Smith added.
Perhaps Smith is forgetting that the government wouldn't have had to take any bites if his organization, itself a government agency, hadn't shot at two innocent people 102 times.
[Image via AP]