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

Practically two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old woman with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday as 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 charge that was punishable by 2 to eight years in prison. That averted the minimum 10 to 30 or extra 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 keeping with CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal less than $15 value of products from the shop. When confronted by Walmart staff, she returned the items and walked out of the shop.

Body digicam footage from Hopp showed the officer approaching Garner as she walked dwelling. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she did not adjust to multiple orders to stop. 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 back and up close to her shoulder blades, CBS Denver mentioned. An audible pop is heard on the digicam, something Hopp acknowledged listening to 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 instances about having accidents, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly compelled to take a seat in a holding cell with out medical consideration for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and one other workers have been heard on safety footage acknowledging that she might have accidents.

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

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