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

Nearly 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 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 docket in early March, Hopp pleaded guilty to an assault charge that was punishable by 2 to eight years in prison. That prevented 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, in accordance with CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal less than $15 value of products from the store. When confronted by Walmart staff, she returned the items and walked out of the shop.

Body digital camera footage from Hopp confirmed the officer approaching Garner as she walked residence. 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, something Hopp acknowledged hearing in footage later released 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 pressured to sit down in a holding cell without medical consideration for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and another employees were heard on safety footage acknowledging that she may have injuries.

After a short 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 Legal professional's Workplace elected to move forward with a plea agreement towards the need of the Garner family. The household felt the video in the case proved Hopp was guilty on all counts past an inexpensive doubt.