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

Nearly two years after violently arresting a 73-year-old girl with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to 5 years in jail on Thursday as 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 prevented the minimum 10 to 30 or extra 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, based on CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal lower than $15 price of products from the shop. When confronted by Walmart staff, she returned the items and walked out of the shop.

Body digital camera footage from Hopp showed the officer approaching Garner as she walked house. 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 camera, something Hopp acknowledged hearing in footage later released by Loveland police.

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

After a short investigation, Hopp resigned from the Loveland Police Division, 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 Legal professional's Office elected to move ahead with a plea settlement against the desire of the Garner household. The family felt the video within the case proved Hopp was responsible on all counts past a reasonable doubt.