Police officer jailed for brutally arresting 73-year-old woman with dementia before laughing it off

Austin Hopp has been jailed for five years after he allegedly dislocated Karen Garner, 73, who has dementia, during an aggressive arrest and then filmed him laughing about it

A police officer who allegedly dislocated the shoulder of a 73-year-old woman with dementia and then laughed with colleagues at the way she was treated roughly has been jailed.

Austin Hopp twisted Karen Garner’s arm and knocked her to the ground while she was picking flowers in Loveland, north of Denver, in 2020 after exiting a Walmart store without paying for $14 (£10) worth of goods.

Footage showed the officer handcuffing the frail woman and he later nudged her against the hood of his car and said, “Are you done? Are you ready? We don’t play that game.”

Ms Garner was then taken to a police station where she was left handcuffed in a cell for six hours while Hopp and his colleague Daria Jalali were seen laughing as they watched the bodycam footage of what had happened.

Hopp, who handcuffed Ms Garner, is heard saying: “Ready for the pop?” – an obvious reference to the pensioner’s allegedly dislocated shoulder.

And he also says: “I can’t believe I threw a 73-year-old on the floor.”

Jalali watches brutal footage of the arrest and says, “It’s like live TV… Body cams are my favorite thing, I could watch live stream body cams all day.”

Officers were seen carrying Ms Garner to a cell and speculated she was on drugs or “losing it”.

Hopp pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in March under a deal rejected by Ms Garner’s family and received a five-year prison sentence, the reported New York Post.

He faced a mandatory prison sentence of between 10 and 32 years on what was originally a more serious charge of assault.

A federal lawsuit filed by Ms. Garner alleges her shoulder was dislocated and the city settled the case for $3 million.

Her family have said the payout was spent on the 24-hour care now needed after her case worsened.

Ms Garner claimed she wanted to go back and pay for the items at Walmart, and her family said she left without paying because of the dementia.

Attorney Sarah Schielke, representing Ms Garner, said in a statement: “This is absolutely disgusting.

“These videos must not go unseen or unheard. I am sorry to have to share them with the public. This will be traumatic and deeply disturbing for everyone.

“But, as is often the case with bad police departments, this seems like the only way to get them to change.

“You need to be exposed. If I did not publish this, the Loveland police’s toxic culture of arrogance and entitlement, along with their horrific abuse of the vulnerable and powerless, would continue as before.”