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 girl with dementia, former Colorado police officer Austin Hopp was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday as part of a plea agreement to lessen 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 Court in early March, Hopp pleaded responsible to an assault cost that was punishable by 2 to 8 years in jail. That prevented 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 attempted theft at a Loveland Walmart, based on CBS Denver. Garner, who has dementia, allegedly tried to steal lower than $15 price of goods from the shop. When confronted by Walmart employees, she returned the objects and walked out of the shop.

Body digicam footage from Hopp confirmed the officer approaching Garner as she walked house. Carrying a wildflower in her hand, she didn't adjust to multiple orders to stop. 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 digital camera, something Hopp acknowledged listening to in footage later launched by Loveland police.

Garner was taken to a holding facility at the Loveland Police Division, where she complained multiple times about having injuries, CBS Denver reported. She was allegedly pressured to take a seat in a holding cell without medical attention for hours, even after Hopp, Jalali and another employees had been heard on safety footage acknowledging that she might have injuries.

After a brief investigation, Hopp resigned from the Loveland Police Department, as did Jalali. Both had been arrested and charged with crimes related to Garner's arrest.

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