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

Practically two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old girl with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to five years in jail 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 8 years in jail. That avoided the minimum 10 to 30 or extra years in jail he would have faced 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 less than $15 value of goods from the store. When confronted by Walmart employees, she returned the gadgets and walked out of the shop.

Body digital camera footage from Hopp showed the officer approaching Garner as she walked dwelling. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she did not comply with 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 back and up near her shoulder blades, CBS Denver said. An audible pop is heard on the camera, one thing Hopp acknowledged hearing in footage later launched by Loveland police.

Garner was taken to a holding facility on the Loveland Police Division, the place she complained a number of times about having injuries, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly forced to take a seat in a holding cell without medical consideration for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and another workers had been heard on safety footage acknowledging that she could have injuries.

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 Lawyer's Workplace elected to move forward with a plea settlement towards the will of the Garner family. The household felt the video within the case proved Hopp was guilty on all counts past a reasonable doubt.