Ex-officer sentenced to 5 years in jail for violent arrest of 73-year-old girl

Nearly two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old lady 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 broken arm, sprained wrist and separated shoulder, CBS Denver reported.

In Larimer County Courtroom in early March, Hopp pleaded guilty to an assault cost that was punishable by 2 to eight years in prison. That averted the minimum 10 to 30 or extra years in prison he would have faced with a trial and conviction.

Hopp first encountered Garner after being dispatched to a report of an tried theft at a Loveland Walmart, in accordance with CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal lower than $15 price of goods from the store. When confronted by Walmart staff, she returned the gadgets and walked out of the store.

Body digital camera footage from Hopp confirmed the officer approaching Garner as she walked residence. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she failed to 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 near her shoulder blades, CBS Denver mentioned. An audible pop is heard on the digital camera, one thing Hopp acknowledged hearing in footage later launched by Loveland police.

Garner was taken to a holding facility at the Loveland Police Division, where she complained a number of times about having accidents, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly compelled to take a seat in a holding cell without medical attention for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and one other workers were heard on security footage acknowledging that she may have accidents.

After a short investigation, Hopp resigned from the Loveland Police Division, as did Jalali. Each 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 in opposition to the will of the Garner family. The family felt the video within the case proved Hopp was responsible on all counts past a reasonable doubt.