Long Beach Scout Ranger Sues for Dorner Reward

The resident manager of the Long Beach Boy Scouts' Camp Tahquitz says he will sue the City of Los Angeles to attempt collecting a $1 million reward for information leading to fleing ex-cop Christopher Dorner's arrest.

Nobody disputes that Dorner carjack victim Heltebrake - the year-round manager for Boy Scouts Camp Tahquitz in the San Bernardino Mountains visited by 2,000 scouts yearly - was one of the last people to speak to Dorner and see him alive.

After Dorner quietly demanded at gun-point that Heltebrake walk away from his truck, Heltebrake called a Sheriff's deputy: Dorner was heading toward him. Heltebrake argues that his call triggered the final Dorner showdown. Before Dorner allegedly killed himself in a cabin burning down, the stand-off and days-long manhunt was among the country's largest.

But others have filed clain for the reward, Dorner had held captive a Big Bear area couple for some time before fleeing their cabin in their Nissan. The couple managed to get free and call 9-1-1 to report Dorner, who crashed the car and was on foot when he confronted Heltebrake and dog Suni in his truck.

"Rick Heltebrake's telephone call to the deputy established the current location of Christopher Dorner that directly led to his apprehension and capture," Heltebrake's Long Beach lawyer told Patch Friday. "Until then, his exact whereabouts in the San Bernardino Mountains was unknown. Dorner abandoned the Nissan (belonging to a couple he held hostage) before car- jacking Mr. Heltebrake's truck. He was not found because of the Nissan."

But Allen said Heltebrake is a reasonable person. "We will be more than happy to allow a neutral third party evaluate who is entitled to all or a portion of the reward or present our case to a jury. However, we do not intend to cast aspersions on the Big Bear folks who were also crime victims, unlike their attorney," Allen added.

Read about Heltebrake's encounter with Dorner on Long Beach Patch

Heltebrake filed a claim back in February with the City of Los Angeles to collect a $1 million reward issued for information leading to Dorner's arrest.  

As reported on April 5 in the Los Angeles Times, city officials decided to set up a panel of three retired judges to determine which claimants would receive money - Heltebrake is not the only one who has made claim.

Heltebrake's attorney Thomas wrote in an email that he believes that process to be "arbitrary."

“The City has left us no choice but to seek redress in the Los Angeles Superior Court because they arbitrarily and capriciously established an unfair, one sided process that ignores Heltebrake’s fundamental, due process rights," wrote Thomas.

He wrote that Heltebrake is concerned that the city's process will not allow him to question witnesses and present evidence to the tribunal. Heltebrake is also concerned that the hearing will not be open the public.

Encounter with Dorner

Heltebrake told Patch about his on a remote mountain road. He was making his daily check on the property, beside him his dog Suni, beloved by returning scouts, when he was forced to give up his truck.

"I see this person, I'm not going very fast, he comes out of the snow and I see a crashed vehicle behind him, as if he went up a snow bank," recalled Heltebrake. "And I could see Christopher Dorner, gun pointed right at me. I stopped, put the truck in park and raised up my hands.

""He said 'I don't want to hurt you, start walking up the road. And take your dog,'" Heltebrake recounted for Patch the next day. As soon as his cell got reception he called the law.

"I called a local deputy who lives in the area.... And pretty much, he's 9-1-1."

Heltebrake is seeking the entire $1 million reward, according to the email sent out by his attorney.  The full letter from his attorney to the LAPD can be viewed at right.

Authorities believe Dorner, who was fired by the Los Angeles Police Department in 2009, killed four people in ten days: a former LAPD captain's daughter and her fiancé in Irvine on Feb. 3, Riverside police Officer Michael Crain on Feb. 7, and San Bernardino County sheriff's Detective Jeremiah MacKay on Feb. 12.