Riverside, Calif. pulls $100K contribution to Christopher Dorner reward offer

The City of Riverside is pulling its portion of the $1.2 million reward offered for the "capture and conviction" of ex-Los Angeles police officer and accused killer Christopher Dorner, CBS Los Angeles reports.

The city pledged $100,000 to the reward fund after Riverside police officer Michael Crain was reportedly killed by Dorner on Feb. 7 while on routine patrol.

Cain, 34, was among four people killed by the fugitive before he died in a standoff and fire in a Big Bear cabin on Feb. 25.

During the manhunt, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa coordinated a $1 million reward from more than 30 agencies or corporations, including the City of Riverside. The Los Angeles City Council and Board of Supervisors also each put up a separate $100,000 reward with its own protocol and requirements.

City spokeswoman Cindie Perry told the Riverside Press-Enterprise Monday that the reward was for information leading to Dorner's "capture and conviction" and neither condition was met.

Several other local agencies, including the Peace Officers Research Association, have also reconsidered their offers.

Beck and Villaraigosa say they would like to see the reward paid out and expect to make a decision by mid-April.

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Meanwhile, at least one other donor that pledged money toward the award is expressing misgivings about the payout.

Ron Cottingham, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, told the Los Angeles Times his union has placed its pledge on hold pending additional information.

Cottingham says other donors have told him the reward doesn't fit their criteria.

At issue is whether the award initially publicized as being for Dorner's capture and conviction should go to anyone after the manhunt ended with Dorner's apparent suicide in a burning cabin after a weeklong rampage that left four others dead.

The payout of any reward could turn into a fight before anyone sees a penny.

A couple who was tied up in their condominium by the fugitive and a camp caretaker he carjacked shortly afterward have laid claim to the prize, and others could be in line for much of the money that authorities hope to dole out by mid-April.

Both parties claim they provided the key tip that ultimately led Dorner to hole up in a vacant mountain cabin where he apparently took his own life after a shootout with police. He killed four people, including two police officers, during his rampage across Southern California.

While crime rewards often drive tipsters underground to protect their identity, the Dorner reward has had the opposite effect.

"Everybody's coming out of the woodwork on this one," said Los Angeles police Lt. Andy Neiman. "These people are being very public about it because they know Dorner can't come after them."