Lee McDaniel encountered Dorner at a Corona gas station on Feb. 7, 2013 and alerted police to his presence in the Inland Empire and Snow Summit employee Daniel McGowan called authorities when he spotted Dorner’s burning truck in Big Bear later that morning. Jim and Karen Reynolds of Big Bear, were tied up by Dorner on Feb. 12 after they discovered him holed up in one of their vacation rentals. Karen got loose and called 911 after he fled in their car.
As of today, about $860,000. has been distributed. The problem is that the $1 million reward is actually a combination of several awards that had their own rules. The city of Riverside has rescinded their promise of $100,000. because the precise terms of the pledge, that Dorner be arrested and convicted, were not met. A panel of judges assigned to choose the recipients of the $1 million reward waived the arrest-and-conviction requirement of the Los Angeles portion of the reward, calling it impossible to meet. McDaniel was awarded 5%, McGowan 15%, and the Reynoldses were promised 80% of the reward money.
A spokesperson for Los Angeles mayor Gil Garcetti said on January 30, “Mayor Garcetti is going to ask those donors whose commitments were not fulfilled to honor their pledges so we can close out this process.” A lawyer for the Reynoldses said, “There is an expectation that the city will make good on it’s reward process”, however they are not contemplating any legal action in light of the suffering of Dorner’s victims and survivors.
