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

Nearly two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old lady with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to five years in jail on Thursday as a part of a plea agreement to reduce 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 guilty to an assault charge 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 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 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 employees, she returned the gadgets and walked out of the store.

Physique digicam footage from Hopp confirmed the officer approaching Garner as she walked residence. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she didn't adjust to 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 digital camera, one thing Hopp acknowledged listening to in footage later released by Loveland police.

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

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

As first reported by CBS Denver, the Larimer County District Attorney's Workplace elected to move forward with a plea agreement in opposition to the will of the Garner family. The family felt the video within the case proved Hopp was responsible on all counts beyond an affordable doubt.