The City Council has signed off on a $4.2 million settlement with two newspaper delivery women who were fired on by officers in Torrance during the manhunt for accused killer Christopher Dorner.
Margie Carranza and her mother, Emma Hernandez, had reached a settlement with the city in April after filing claims for personal injuries, legal costs, medical bills and emotional damage.
The council approved the payout by a 10-0 vote on Wednesday, according to City News Service.
The multi-million dollar sum will be split between Carranza, 47, and her mother, 71.
The women were delivering newspapers around 5 a.m. on Feb. 7 when officers opened fire on their Toyota Tacoma without warning.
Hernandez used her body to shield her daughter and suffered gunshot wounds to her back. Carranza was injured from flying glass.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck later said the officers thought the truck was being driven by Dorner….
Well, at least they were thinking, huh? Bullets guided by the thoughts of officers always fly for justice. Except this time, I guess. (It is worth remembering that opening fire randomly even on an actual suspect doesn't really qualify as justice.)
This is a good data point for those who question the public policy relevance of random localized acts of police misconduct and criminality: they can, and ought to more often, cost we the people a bundle.
