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 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 guilty to an assault cost that was punishable by 2 to eight years in prison. That prevented the minimal 10 to 30 or more 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 line with 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 shop.

Body digital camera footage from Hopp confirmed the officer approaching Garner as she walked home. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she didn't adjust to 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 close to her shoulder blades, CBS Denver mentioned. 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 on the Loveland Police Division, where she complained multiple times 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 another employees were heard on security footage acknowledging that she might have accidents.

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

As first reported by CBS Denver, the Larimer County District Attorney's Workplace elected to move ahead with a plea agreement in opposition to the desire of the Garner household. The household felt the video in the case proved Hopp was guilty on all counts past a reasonable doubt.