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

Practically two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old woman with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to 5 years in jail on Thursday as part of a plea settlement 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 Courtroom in early March, Hopp pleaded responsible to an assault cost that was punishable by 2 to eight years in jail. That avoided the minimum 10 to 30 or extra years in jail he would have faced with a trial and conviction.

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

Body digital camera footage from Hopp showed the officer approaching Garner as she walked home. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she didn't adjust to multiple 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 again and up near her shoulder blades, CBS Denver said. An audible pop is heard on the digicam, one thing Hopp acknowledged hearing in footage later released by Loveland police.

Garner was taken to a holding facility at the Loveland Police Department, where she complained multiple times about having accidents, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly pressured to take a seat in a holding cell with out medical consideration for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and another workers have been heard on security footage acknowledging that she may have injuries.

After a short investigation, Hopp resigned from the Loveland Police Division, as did Jalali. Both were 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 forward with a plea agreement against the desire of the Garner family. The family felt the video within the case proved Hopp was guilty on all counts past an inexpensive doubt.