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

Practically 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 agreement to reduce 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 docket in early March, Hopp pleaded guilty to an assault cost that was punishable by 2 to eight years in jail. That prevented the minimal 10 to 30 or extra years in prison 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, according to CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal less than $15 price of goods from the shop. When confronted by Walmart workers, she returned the items and walked out of the store.

Body digicam footage from Hopp showed the officer approaching Garner as she walked home. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she didn't comply with a number of orders to stop. 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 launched by Loveland police.

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

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

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