Prosecutors launch criminal probe into dementia sufferer's arrest


Karen Garner (pictured in a photograph taken several years ago) is  five feet tall and weighs 80 pounds and suffers from dementia

Karen Garner (pictured in a photograph taken several years ago) is  five feet tall and weighs 80 pounds and suffers from dementia

State prosecutors are launching a criminal investigation into an incident in which a Colorado cop was caught on video pushing a 73-year-old woman with dementia to the ground, fracturing her arm.

The announcement of the investigation comes after the Loveland Police Department suspended the arresting officer, Austin Hopp, 26, last week in the wake of the disturbing video. Two other officers involved in the arrest were placed on desk duty.  

The video was released just last week after an attorney representing Karen Garner, the woman who is 80 pounds and suffers from dementia, filed a federal lawsuit alleging civil rights violations during the arrest, which happened last summer.

Her family says the cops broke her arm, dislocated her shoulder and covered her body in bruises.

The District Attorney for Larimer and Jackson Counties in Colorado, Gordon McLaughlin, said he had been unware of the incident until the video was released last week. After outcry from the community, he said Monday he would launch a criminal review of the Loveland Police Department. 

Prosecutors could charge the officers involved in the incident, which along with Hopp include Officer Daria Jalali and on-scene supervising sergeant Phil Metzler.

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Garner, 73, was picking flowers from the side of a road on June 26, 2020, when she was arrested for leaving a Walmart without paying for a candy bar, a can of Pepsi and a t-shirt totaling $13.38

Garner, 73, was picking flowers from the side of a road on June 26, 2020, when she was arrested for leaving a Walmart without paying for a candy bar, a can of Pepsi and a t-shirt totaling $13.38

Garner's arms are placed behind her back during an arrest her attorney says violated her civil rights

Garner’s arms are placed behind her back during an arrest her attorney says violated her civil rights

If they don’t charge the officers, prosecutors must release a letter after examining the incident that explains their reasoning for not filing charges, according to the Denver Post. 

The DA’s investigation will be led by the Fort Collins Police Services and will be assisted by the DA’s office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, as needed.   

Before her violent arrest, Garner been picking flowers off the side of a road at the last June.

She was walking home from a nearby Walmart, where employees noticed she failed to pay for a candy bar, a can of Pepsi and a t-shirt totaling $13.38. 

The DA’s office had said last week that it would review the information of the case — which civil rights attorneys say left Karen Garner injured — and would decide whether a criminal investigation would be necessary. 

Garner’s children called the move a ‘small but overdue step in the right direction.’

‘Clearly, the newly-elected DA understands what we suspected last summer — that only an independent, outside investigation, with all the world’s attention, will reveal the truth,’ they said in a statement. 

The Loveland department is conducting its own review of the incident. 

Last June, store employees had stopped Garner at the exit of the Walmart and retrieved the items she hadn’t paid for, according to a lawsuit filed against the officers last week.

Store officials said it did not suffer a loss from the incident. 

But, the lawsuit says, someone from Walmart called the police to report Garner and the direction she was walking in.

The cop, Hopp, 26, later caught up with her. Garner appeared visibly confused in body camera footage, repeatedly telling the officer she was just going home.

Officer Daria Jalali is pictured during the arrest of Karen Garner

Officer Daria Jalali is pictured during the arrest of Karen Garner

Garner was placed up against the officers' police car as she continued to wail 'I'm going home!'

Garner was placed up against the officers’ police car as she continued to wail ‘I’m going home!’

Garner appeared visibly confused during the arrest

Garner appeared visibly confused during the arrest

At one point in the footage, which civil rights attorney Sarah Schielke released to the public when she filed the lawsuit against Hopp on April 14, Hopp tells Garner, ‘Ma’am I don’t think you want to play it this way.’

‘You just left Walmart. Do you need to be arrested right now?’

Within a few minutes, however, Hopp is seen dragging Garner — who is five feet tall and weighs 80 pounds — to the ground as she screams ‘I’m going home’. 

Garner is subsequently seen being pushed up against the officers’ police car as she continues to wail ‘I’m going home!’

‘Quit it!’ Assisting Officer Daria Jalali can be heard commanding as she pulls Garner’s arm behind her back.

At that point, a snapping sound can be heard on the bodycam footage and Garner cries out in pain. 

In another portion of the video, a driver can be seen stopping to inquire about the arrest. 

‘Do you have to use that much aggression?’ the passerby asks the cops. 

‘Get out of here! This is not your business!’ Officer Hopp replies.  

Soon after, a third officer arrives at the scene and asks ‘Are you guys all good?’

‘A little muddy, a little bloody, that’s how it works!’  Officer Jalali before confirming the blood was from Garner. 

Garner was taken into custody where she was reportedly held for hours without medical attention, despite insisting she was in pain.  

A photograph of Garner's severely bruised arm is seen above

A photograph of Garner’s severely bruised arm is seen above

Photos taken in the aftermath of the arrest show Garner with a severely bruised and swollen arm. She also sustained a bloody nose

Photos taken in the aftermath of the arrest show Garner with a severely bruised and swollen arm. She also sustained a bloody nose

Photos taken in the aftermath of the arrest show the elderly Garner with a severely bruised and swollen arm. She also sustained a bloody nose. 

Nobody sought medical help for Garner for about six hours after she was arrested, according to the lawsuit. 

‘It is a hard-to-watch video,’ attorney Schielke told the Reporter-Herald. 

‘It is the opposite of community policing. I thought a lot about this case as I have prepared to file it, and on paper and in the legal pleading it is an excessive-force case. In reality when you watch the video, you see this is a torture case.’  

Body camera footage shows police officers forcing Garner to the ground and injured her arm

Body camera footage shows police officers forcing Garner to the ground and injured her arm

She was placed in police custody, where, her attorney said, she did not get medical attention

She was placed in police custody, where, her attorney said, she did not get medical attention

Officer Hopp is seen dragging Garner to the ground, as she yells that she is going home

Officer Hopp is seen dragging Garner to the ground, as she yells that she is going home

The lawsuit claims the arrest violated her constitutional protections against excessive force and to have due process and also violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The civil lawsuit is separate from the DA’s investigation, which could bring possible criminal charges.

According to the lawsuit, forgetting to pay for items in stores is common among those with dementia. 

It also said Garner suffers from sensory aphasia, which impairs her ability to communicate and understand what other people are saying.

In addition to her physical injuries, the lawsuit claims Garner now experiences fear, trauma and anxiety whenever she leaves her home. 

‘What little freedom and happiness Ms. Garner enjoyed in her life as an elderly adult with declining mental health was, on June 26, 2020, recklessly and deliberately obliterated by the Loveland Police Department,’ it said. 

Hopp is currently on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, while Jalali and supervising Sergeant Phil Metzler have been reassigned to administrative duties.

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