BIG BEAR LAKE (KTLA) — The man whose pickup truck was carjacked by Christopher Dorner gave KTLA an exclusive and chilling account of the ordeal.
Rick Heltebrake came face-to-face with the multiple murder suspect, mere moments before Dorner’s last stand inside a cabin in Seven Oaks.
“I saw the sheriff’s and Fish & Game units coming up the road, and they looked like they were heading out on their way to something,” Heltebrake recalled.
“So I’m basically just driving down the road — it’s about a mile and a quarter to the bottom where my camp ends. Checked everything out.”
“I started driving back up the road. I got to about to within a half-mile of the highway or so and I saw some movement in the trees on the left side in the snow,” he said.
“And here comes this guy with a big gun,” he described. “And it was Christopher Dorner, and I knew who it was right away.”
“I saw a vehicle kind of crashed behind him, like maybe the vehicle he stole from Big Bear, and he lost control, went into the snowbank,” Heltebrake said.
“And he just kind of came out of the snow at me with his gun at my head.”
“I stopped, put my hands up,” he recalled. “He said, ‘I don’t want to hurt you. Just get out and start walking up the road.’”
“He looked at my dog who was in the passenger seat, said take your dog and just start walking.”
Heltebrake complied, and started walking up the road with his hands up.
“I got a little ways up the road, out of his sight, and not more than 10 seconds later, I heard a loud round of gunfire,” he said. “Ten to 20 rounds maybe.”
What he heard was an exchange of gunfire between Dorner and Fish and Wildlife officers.
As Dorner sped off in Heltebrake’s pickup, he encountered two Department of Fish and Wildlife trucks, authorities said.
Dorner rolled down his window and fired 15 to 20 rounds, authorities said. One of the officers jumped out and shot a high-powered rifle at the fleeing pickup.
Dorner then abandoned the vehicle and took off on foot. Police said he ended up in the Seven Oaks Mountain Cabins.
“Then I jumped into the snow, I ran behind a tree where I had some cover,” Heltebrake recalled.
“I started running up to the highway to get farther away, called a friend to come pick me up and I got away.”
According to Heltebrake, Dorner seemed “pretty calm” during their encounter. He said Dorner had a long, assault-rifle type gun.
“Didn’t see, you know, wild eyes or anything like that. He just pointed the gun at me and said I don’t want to hurt you and start walking.”
“I came face to face with a killer. Now that killer is dead, and we can move on with our lives,” he said.
23 Comments to “Exclusive: Man Carjacked by Dorner Speaks Out”
February 13, 2013 at 7:59 AM
Quite the experience for this guy and the two tied up, brave citizens, i hate what dorner has done with all this killing, i must say though he has lived up to his word in his manefesto, who he was targeting and who he wasn't, he could have killed these people but no he spared their lives and had no interest in doing harm to them at all. Let me make this clear, noone should have died and i'm not justifying his actions in any way !!Your mayor was asked on ktla this morning if these two cleaning ladies would be recieving the million for tipping the police off, he says they would be investigating to see if they were elegible !! They should be writing a check today !!! oh, forgot they are broke, we will see !! Oh ya we haven't forgot about the two newspaper ladies and surf boy your trying to shove under the carpet, and the cops that committed their own "domestic terrorism" on them.
February 13, 2013 at 11:33 AM
So when are we going to hear anything about the Officer that kicked the cuffed man in the face and then lied when Dorhner reported her, causing this domino effect. Isnt she a Lt. now?
February 13, 2013 at 8:14 AM
Wow, that must have been horrible… Hearing "I don't want to hurt you, get out and start walking"… Dorner clearly deserved to die for that alone… The truth is, that the only reason he got caught so fast, was leaving these people alive. He could kill them, so that they couldn't call the police, but he didn't. I would say he acted better than the police themselves, shooting civilian cars without warning etc.
Someone should really check his story and do something about corruption.
February 13, 2013 at 9:09 AM
Yea, None of these killings were ok by any means. But there was truth in what he said, and that being he didnt want to hurt anyone else. I believe he was telling the truth about the corruption in the LAPD, and hopefully they take some of the responsibility for all of this. He could have easily killed anyone who came in his path and didnt. This is a sad situation all around, and there are some serious changes that need to be made!!!
February 13, 2013 at 11:12 AM
Thank you sir!
February 13, 2013 at 9:27 AM
Home Video of the next door neighbor talking to Channel 4 news on what happen. Go to you tube and click on the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=po3jPq5LT…
Or go to You Tube and type: Auto Sweet Brown: no time for bronchitis video.
February 13, 2013 at 9:27 AM
Home Video of the next door neighbor talking to Channel 4 news on what happen. Go to you tube and click on the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=po3jPq5LT…
Or go to You Tube and type: Auto Sweet Brown: no time for bronchitis video.
February 13, 2013 at 10:53 AM
I believe he had a legitimate complaint for his termination but he lost it all when he started killing people.
February 13, 2013 at 11:13 AM
But its totally ok for LAPD to kill newspaper delivery women and other innocent folks every day.
February 14, 2013 at 8:14 AM
no newspaper woman was "illed" they were shot at and thank God they weren't seriously injured. The one who did the killing was Dorner. The loser went after an unarmed young lady, Monica Quan, and killed her and her fiance in cold blood. They had nothing to do with his firing. Dorner was a total narcisist. There's a lot worse that happens to people in life beside getting fired for a so-called unjust reason. He's not the first person to be fired from a job that gave him no right to go on a rampage.
February 13, 2013 at 11:32 AM
upto I looked at the paycheck which had said $7580, I did not believe …that…my neighbours mother woz like they say actualy receiving money part-time at their computer.. there uncle had bean doing this 4 only twenty months and just paid the dept on their apartment and bought a new Saab 99 Turbo. read more at, jump15.comCHECK IT OUT
February 13, 2013 at 1:35 PM
"VIRUS" DO NOT OPEN ANYTHING FROM "susan673" or "whitewoman"
February 13, 2013 at 1:24 PM
VIRUS DO NOT OPEN ANYTHING FROM "susan673"
February 13, 2013 at 2:27 PM
If I where SB sheriffs office I would investigate LAPD. And sue the hell out of LAPD for wrongful death if they fired Dorner on false crap.
February 13, 2013 at 10:48 PM
Oh, shove it in your ass. Dorner WAS a killer. Now he's dead and that's just EXACTLY what he deserved. He held a grudge with cops, and the cops fried the nigger son of a bitch. YEAAAA!
February 14, 2013 at 12:23 AM
how "terrifying"? he doesn't seem terrified.