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 jail on Thursday as part of a plea agreement 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 docket in early March, Hopp pleaded responsible to an assault cost that was punishable by 2 to 8 years in prison. That avoided the minimum 10 to 30 or more years in prison 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, in accordance with CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal less than $15 price of goods from the store. When confronted by Walmart workers, she returned the objects and walked out of the store.

Physique digicam footage from Hopp confirmed 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 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 said. An audible pop is heard on the digicam, one thing 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 instances about having injuries, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly compelled to sit in a holding cell without medical consideration for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and another workers had been heard on security footage acknowledging that she may have injuries.

After a short investigation, Hopp resigned from the Loveland Police Department, as did Jalali. Each have been arrested and charged with crimes associated to Garner's arrest.

As first reported by CBS Denver, the Larimer County District Lawyer's Office elected to move forward with a plea agreement in opposition to the will of the Garner family. The household felt the video within the case proved Hopp was responsible on all counts past an inexpensive doubt.