Ex-officer sentenced to 5 years in jail for violent arrest of 73-year-old lady

Almost two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old woman with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday as part of a plea agreement to lessen his jail time. The June 2020 arrest left Karen Garner with a damaged 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 prevented 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 keeping with CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal lower than $15 value of goods from the store. When confronted by Walmart workers, she returned the gadgets and walked out of the store.

Body camera footage from Hopp showed the officer approaching Garner as she walked dwelling. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she failed to comply with a number of orders to cease. Hopp is then seen grabbing Garner by the arm and forcefully taking her to the ground, 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 close to her shoulder blades, CBS Denver mentioned. An audible pop is heard on the camera, one thing Hopp acknowledged listening to in footage later launched by Loveland police.

Garner was taken to a holding facility on the Loveland Police Division, where she complained a number of occasions about having injuries, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly forced to sit down in a holding cell with out medical consideration for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and one other workers have been heard on safety footage acknowledging that she may have accidents.

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

As first reported by CBS Denver, the Larimer County District Legal professional's Office elected to maneuver forward with a plea settlement towards the need of the Garner family. The household felt the video within the case proved Hopp was guilty on all counts past an inexpensive doubt.