€1m reward in hunt for fugitive cop sparks 600 tip-offs

A $1m (€747,000) reward has prompted numerous tips to authorities seeking a fired Los Angeles police officer suspected of killing three people.

Los Angeles police Lt. Andrew Neiman says well over 600 clues were being investigated.

The search for former officer Christopher Dorner is continuing in the Big Bear area of the San Bernardino Mountains where his pickup truck was found torched last week, but there’s been no sighting of him there.

Dorner is suspected in two shootings in Riverside County that killed a police officer and wounded two others.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the driver of a pickup peppered with police bullets says Torrance officers were reckless in their search for the fugitive ex-Los Angeles cop.

Surfer Dan Perdue was driving to the beach early last Thursday when his Honda Ridgeline was stopped by officers guarding the home of a law enforcement official targeted by Dorner.

The pickup resembled Dorner’s Nissan Titan.

After driving away, the Ridgeline was hit by a squad car.

Perdue attorney Robert Sheahen tells the Daily Breeze of Torrance the pickup spun around and officers began shooting. Perdue wasn’t wounded.

A police department statement says Perdue’s vehicle was suddenly leaving the area and officers on heightened alert took appropriate measures.

The shooting was blocks away from the mistaken identity LAPD shooting of two women delivering newspapers.

The ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department are stretched thin by the manhunt for the ex-cop and added security needed for Sunday night’s Grammy Awards.

The department remains on tactical alert, which means officers are staying on duty beyond their shifts.

Officer Sara Faden says the alert was called on Sunday afternoon, before the nighttime Grammys, and it remained in place yesteday.

There’s no word on the when the alert will be lifted.

Authorities say the LAPD needs the extra manpower as it hunts for fired officer Dorner and protects 50 families he allegedly threatened.

Faden says the department also must cope with everyday needs and calls for service.

Authorities have been working to protect dozens of families in the area considered targets based on Dorner’s Facebook rant against those he held responsible for ending his career with the Los Angeles Police Department five years ago.

Among those the 33-year-old Dorner is suspected of killing is a Riverside police officer, and on the fourth day of the manhunt, authorities put up a $1m reward for information leading to his capture.

“Our dedication to catch this killer remains steadfast. Our confidence remains unshaken,” Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference alongside police chiefs and mayors from Irvine and Riverside. “We will not tolerate this reign of terror.”

Several tips came in within a few hours after the award announcement, including a reported Dorner sighting that had police surrounding and evacuating a Lowe’s Home Improvement store in LA’s San Fernando Valley, police spokesman Gus Villanueva said.

A search of the store yielded no evidence that Dorner was there or had been there.