Donors cite fine print, back out of $1m reward for cop killer Christopher Dorner
Photos of fired Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer Christopher Dorner are seen at a press conference regarding the manhunt for Dorner, at LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles February 7, 2013. Los Angeles police launched a full-scale manhunt for Dorner, a dismissed officer believed to have killed three people including another cop.
LOS ANGELES — After the standoff that killed suspected murderer Christopher Dorner, donors who scrambled together a $1 million reward are quietly backing down from their offer.
Several contributors, including the city of Riverside, are taking back their offers of cash because Dorner was not technically "arrested" or "convicted".
Instead, the former LAPD cop committed suicide surrounded by police inside a Big Bear, Calif. cabin that burned to the ground.
Three people who helped police track Dorner to that cabin have made claims on the money: a couple who were tied up by Dorner and had their car stolen and a man whose pickup truck was hijacked by Dorner in Big Bear.
The Riverside city council put up $100,000 as a reward for information leading to the “arrest and conviction” of Dorner, Riverside city spokesperson Cindie Perry said.
But "because the conditions were not met, there will not be a payment of a reward by the city," Perry wrote in an email Monday night.
The Peace Officers Research Assn. of California, which represents 64,000 public safety officers, told KTLA that it is placing its pledge on hold.
"I’ve spoken with some groups — including a few that are substantial — that have already decided to withdraw their pledges," president Ron Cottingham said.
"They said the reward doesn’t fit their criteria," he explained.
Vicki Curry, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who announced the reward, said the money was collected before any decisions were made about terms or conditions.
"It came together fairly quickly over that weekend in the midst of the chaos, and now we've got to figure it out," Curry told the Los Angeles Times.
Despite some donors backing out, Curry insisted that the mayor's office would not lower the reward amount.
"There will be a $1-million reward," Curry said.
Christopher Dorner was killed on Feb. 12 after leading police on a 10-day manhunt across Southern California.
Dorner is thought to have killed two police officers, Riverside Police Officer Michael Crain and San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Jeremiah MacKay, as well as Monica Quan, the daughter of a retired LAPD captain, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence.