The tearful daughter of a 73-year-old dementia sufferer whose shoulder was dislocated and arm fractured when cops violently arrested her over $13 stolen groceries has called for her mother’s alleged abusers to face criminal charges.
Allisa Swartz told CBS This Morning Tuesday her mother’s condition has worsened following the incident last June that has sent shockwaves across America since the bodycam footage surfaced last month.
‘It’s accelerated it. She is scared and anxious,’ she said.
‘I think they need to go to jail. Yes. They need to be held accountable.’
Karen Garner was arrested by Loveland police officers back on June 26 2020 when the elderly woman forgot to pay for a soda, a candy bar, a T-shirt, and wipe refills in a Walmart store in Colorado.
Garner was stopped by staff and asked to return to the store where they recovered the unpaid merchandise but employees still contacted law enforcement.
Bodycam footage made public last month shows the horrifying moment Officer Austin Hopp brutally dislocated her shoulder while arresting her.
Separate surveillance footage then surfaced showing Hopp and Officer Daria Jalali callously fist bumping and laughing while watching the footage as Garner was locked up in a jail cell in pain just feet away.
Hopp, Jalali and Community Service Officer Tyler Blackett resigned from the force in the wake of the uproar over the incident and now face possible criminal charges.
It has since emerged that Hopp and Jalali are in a romantic relationship and moved in together while the former was still married.
The tearful daughter of a 73-year-old dementia sufferer whose shoulder was dislocated and arm fractured when cops violently arrested her over $13 stolen groceries has called for her mother’s alleged abusers to face criminal charges. Allisa Swartz on CBS This Morning
Karen Garner was arrested by Loveland police officers back on June 26 2020 when the elderly woman forgot to pay for a soda, a candy bar, a T-shirt, and wipe refills in a Walmart store in Colorado. Pictured bodycam of the violent arrest
Swartz choked back tears as she told CBS about the toll the incident has taken on her mother and showed the bloodstained clothing from that day.
‘This is Mom’s jacket that she had on the day that it happened,’ she said.
‘And it’s got the blood on the back from where her hands were handcuffed.’
Swartz said it was clear that her mom was ‘confused and scared’ in the footage of the incident as she questioned how the officers could not have realized her mother simply wanted to go home.
‘She was confused and scared. She didn’t understand what was going on,’ she said.
She added: ‘I was like, do you not understand? Because she is repeating over and over and just going home, I’m just going home.
‘And it’s as if he wasn’t listening to her.’
Garner’s family filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Loveland and five officers last month saying they violated her civil rights.
It alleges the officers used excessive force while arresting Garner and failed to provide her with proper medical care.
It also says the 73-year-old, who weighs just 80 pounds, was held in jail for six hours with no attempt to find her caregiver despite the officers making jokes about her being ‘mentally unfit.’.
‘Despite many jokes made about her being disabled and mentally unfit, no one attempted to locate Ms. Garner’s caregiver, console or help her, de-escalate her, or alert her loved ones to her terrible situation,’ the lawsuit says.
Allisa Swartz told CBS This Morning Tuesday her mother’s condition has worsened following the incident last June
Garner was diagnosed with a fractured arm, dislocated shoulder, sprained wrist and was covered in scrapes and bruises, according to the suit.
She has also reportedly never regained full mobility in her arm and now needs help with everyday tasks like getting dressed or showering due to her injuries.
The family also released the bodycam footage showing the violent arrest.
It shows the responding officers finding Garner picking flowers by the side of the road.
Officers are then seen slamming the 73-year-old to the ground and arresting her.
At one point, a ‘pop’ is heard as the elderly woman’s shoulder is dislocated during the altercation.
Garner is heard crying out in pain and confusion.
She was then taken to the local police station where she sat in a jail holding cell awaiting booking for six hours.
Bodycam footage captured the arrest of 73-year-old Karen Garner (pictured) who was slammed to the ground by officer Hopp
Photos taken in the aftermath of the arrest show Garner with a severely bruised and swollen arm. She also sustained a bloody nose
Garner is seen slumped in a holding cell as officers mocked video of her arrest just feet away
During this time, she received no medical assistance despite crying in pain over her arm injuries.
Hopp and Jalali were captured on security video watching back the bodycam footage during this time and laughing and joking about the incident alongside Blackett while typing their police reports.
The two officers – who it transpires are a couple – fist-bump each other and congratulate each other that the arrest ‘went well.’
Hopp is heard asking Jalali: ‘Did you turn it off?’
Jalali then looks down at her police body camera and looks back up and smiles.
They then fist-bump each other.
Jalali then asks: ‘How do you think that went?’
To which Hopp replies: ‘I think it went well… I think we crushed it.’
He then asks Jalali: ‘Did you hear it pop?’
Surveillance footage from the Loveland Police Department showed three officers gathered around a computer to watch the body-camera footage
Hopp (left) and Jalali (right) appeared to exchange a fist bump after placing Garner in a cell
She responds: ‘Mmmhm.’
The five officers named in the suit were all involved in the arrest or were at the jail including the three who resigned.
Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer announced Friday that Hopp, Jalali and Blackett are no longer employed by the department.
Sgt. Phil Metzler remains with the department but is on administrative leave. He is also named in the suit and was present during Garner’s arrest.
They had initially been placed on administrative leave after the footage was released.
The incident is currently under criminal investigations at the request of the district attorney as well as an internal affairs investigation handled by the city’s human resources director.
Austin Hopp (left) and Daria Jalali (right) are in a relationship, DailyMail.com revealed
Loveland, Colorado, police officers Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali are in a romantic relationship, DailyMail.com can reveal
DailyMail.com exclusively revealed Hopp and Jalali’s relationship last week.
Around the time of the arrest, then-married Hopp moved into Jalali’s new home in Windsor, Colorado where they lived together until mid-February when Hopp suddenly moved out.
Several neighbors of Jalali’s confirmed to DailyMail.com that Hopp and Jalali had been living together but kept to themselves and weren’t very friendly.
One neighbor said they have been living together at the house since the day they moved in last June.
Exclusive pictures obtained by DailyMail.com taken on June 14, 2020, just days after they moved in together, show Hopp and Jalali sitting on the front porch and holding hands.
