Ex-officer sentenced to five years in jail for violent arrest of 73-year-old girl

Almost two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old lady with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to 5 years in prison on Thursday as a part of a plea settlement to lessen his jail time. The June 2020 arrest left Karen Garner with a broken arm, sprained wrist and separated shoulder, CBS Denver reported.

In Larimer County Court in early March, Hopp pleaded responsible to an assault cost that was punishable by 2 to 8 years in prison. That avoided the minimum 10 to 30 or extra years in jail he would have confronted with a trial and conviction.

Hopp first encountered Garner after being dispatched to a report of an attempted theft at a Loveland Walmart, in accordance with CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal lower than $15 value of goods from the shop. When confronted by Walmart employees, she returned the items and walked out of the store.

Physique digital camera footage from Hopp showed the officer approaching Garner as she walked house. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she did not adjust to multiple orders to stop. Hopp is then seen grabbing Garner by the arm and forcefully taking her to the bottom, CBS Denver reported.

As fellow officer Daria Jalali responded to the scene, Hopp allegedly separated Garner's shoulder by forcing her arm behind her back and up near her shoulder blades, CBS Denver mentioned. An audible pop is heard on the digital camera, something Hopp acknowledged listening to in footage later released by Loveland police.

Garner was taken to a holding facility at the Loveland Police Department, where she complained multiple occasions about having accidents, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly pressured to sit down in a holding cell without medical attention for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and one other employees had been heard on safety footage acknowledging that she could have injuries.

After a short investigation, Hopp resigned from the Loveland Police Division, as did Jalali. Both had been arrested and charged with crimes related to Garner's arrest.

As first reported by CBS Denver, the Larimer County District Legal professional's Workplace elected to move ahead with a plea agreement against the will of the Garner family. The household felt the video in the case proved Hopp was guilty on all counts beyond an affordable doubt.