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 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 8 years in prison. That averted the minimal 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 tried theft at a Loveland Walmart, in keeping with CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal lower than $15 value of products from the store. When confronted by Walmart employees, she returned the gadgets and walked out of the shop.

Physique digital camera footage from Hopp showed the officer approaching Garner as she walked home. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she didn't 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 again and up near her shoulder blades, CBS Denver mentioned. An audible pop is heard on the digital camera, something Hopp acknowledged listening to in footage later released by Loveland police.

Garner was taken to a holding facility at the Loveland Police Department, where she complained a number of occasions about having accidents, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly pressured to sit in a holding cell without medical consideration for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and another workers were heard on security footage acknowledging that she could have accidents.

After a quick investigation, Hopp resigned from the Loveland Police Department, 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 Attorney's Workplace elected to maneuver forward with a plea settlement towards the will of the Garner household. The household felt the video within the case proved Hopp was responsible on all counts past an affordable doubt.