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

Almost 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 settlement to minimize 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 charge that was punishable by 2 to eight years in jail. That avoided the minimum 10 to 30 or more 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, based on CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal lower than $15 value of products from the shop. 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 residence. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she failed to 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 again and up near her shoulder blades, CBS Denver said. An audible pop is heard on the digital 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 multiple times about having injuries, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly forced to sit in a holding cell with out medical attention for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and another staff had been heard on safety footage acknowledging that she might have accidents.

After a quick investigation, Hopp resigned from the Loveland Police Division, as did Jalali. Each were 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 forward with a plea settlement towards the will of the Garner household. The family felt the video in the case proved Hopp was guilty on all counts past an inexpensive doubt.