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

Nearly two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old girl with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to five 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 guilty to an assault cost that was punishable by 2 to 8 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 tried theft at a Loveland Walmart, in accordance with CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal lower than $15 value of products from the store. When confronted by Walmart staff, she returned the items and walked out of the shop.

Physique digicam footage from Hopp confirmed the officer approaching Garner as she walked house. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she did not adjust to a number of orders to cease. 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 again and up close to her shoulder blades, CBS Denver said. An audible pop is heard on the camera, something Hopp acknowledged listening to in footage later launched by Loveland police.

Garner was taken to a holding facility at the Loveland Police Department, the place 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 attention for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and another staff had been heard on security footage acknowledging that she might have accidents.

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

As first reported by CBS Denver, the Larimer County District Lawyer's Office elected to move ahead with a plea agreement in opposition to the will of the Garner household. The household felt the video in the case proved Hopp was responsible on all counts past an inexpensive doubt.