Ex-officer jailed after rough arrest of woman with dementia

A former Colorado police officer has been sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting a woman with dementia during an arrest in June 2020.

Karen Garner, then 73, was left with a broken arm, sprained wrist and a shoulder injury during the arrest by officer Austin Hopp.

Footage later showed police officers laughing while viewing footage of the incident.

Hopp pleaded guilty to assault charges in March.

The former officer avoided a potential sentence of between 10 and 30 years had he been convicted following a trial with that plea.

The charges stem from an incident in which Hopp and another officer, Daria Jalali, responded to a shoplifting call at a Walmart in the town of Loveland, about 50 miles (80km) north of Denver.

Ms Garner had been suspected of taking about $14 (£11) worth of goods without paying. CCTV from the supermarket shortly beforehand showed members of staff stopping Ms Garner to recover the merchandise, which included cans of fizzy drinks and laundry detergent.

As Ms Garner walked home, body camera footage shows the officers approaching her.

After failing to comply with police orders that she stop, she is grabbed roughly by Hopp and taken to the ground. Her arm is forced behind her and towards her shoulder blades.

Footage later emerged of police officers in the booking area of the police station mocking Ms Garner as they review body camera video of the incident, and laughing at the audible "pop" heard when her shoulder is dislocated.

No medical attention was provided to Ms Garner for several hours while in detention, despite Hopp, Ms Jalali and other officers acknowledging that she may have been injured during the arrest.

In September, Loveland announced that it would pay $3m (£2.43m) in compensation to Ms Garner. Her family says the incident worsened her condition.

Both officers resigned following an investigation. Ms Jalali is facing charges of failure to report excessive use of force, failure to intervene in the use of excessive force, and official misconduct. Her case in ongoing, according to local media.

On Thursday, Hopp apologised to the Garner family and said he made "a terrible mistake".

Hopp's plea deal came despite protests from Ms Garner's family, who argued that more officers should have been charged - including one other seen watching the video.

"It went up the chain of command along with videos that various levels of chain of command watched. And nobody did anything," family attorney Sarah Schielke told CBS last year.