It took almost two years, but a former police officer from Colorado who assaulted an elderly woman with dementia has been sentenced to five years in prison for his rough arrest. The former officer, Austin Hopp, agreed to a plea deal to reduce his jail time.

In 2020, Hopp pleaded guilty to the assault charge, facing up to two to eight years in prison. If he had stood trial, he could have been sentenced from a minimum of 10 years up to 30 years if convicted.

Hopp was working as an officer on June 26, 2020, when he arrested 73-year-old Karen Garner after she tried to take $13.88 worth of unpaid-for items out of a local Walmart, located in Loveland. At the time, when staff at Walmart told her she had not paid for the items, she left the products and walked out of the store.

The woman had dementia, and the officer was seen with colleagues later that day making fun of the elderly, impaired woman. At the time of the assault, Hopp was wearing police a body video camera that captured the event.

Hopp’s police body video camera shows that after Garner turned to walk away from him to walk in a field of flowers, he roughly grabbed her arm and strongly pushed her to the ground. Reports state as she lay on the ground, she was still holding wildflowers. Specifically, the video evidence shows Hopp first pushing the elderly woman against the hood of his car, with the woman saying repeatedly that she wanted to go home.

Fellow police officer Daria Jalali also responded to the scene and was there when Hopp physically harmed Garner.

As seen on his police camera, he forced her against the car and bent her arm painfully high, up to her head, and said, “Are you finished? Are you finished? We don’t play this game.”

The former officer was captured on his police station’s video surveillance as he jokingly shared the video with his colleagues, while Garner was being held in a holding cell. On the video surveillance, Hopp told his police colleagues to listen for the sound, a “pop,” as Garner’s shoulder was dislocated. The woman also had a broken arm and a sprained wrist from the violent arrest by Hopp.

Garner was left in her holding cell at the Loveland Police Department alone for a long time, with multiple injuries and no medical attention. She complained many times about her injuries but was ignored for hours as fellow officers Hopp and Jalali acknowledged on the police station security camera that she may have injuries.

After an investigation, both Hopp and Jalali resigned and were arrested and charged with crimes against Garner during her arrest.

Garner filed a federal lawsuit, saying her shoulder had been dislocated by the gruff treatment. The federal lawsuit alleged that Hopp dislocated Garner’s shoulder by forcefully shoving her handcuffed left arm forward onto the hood of the patrol car.

In 2021, the city of Loveland settled the lawsuit for $3 million. Garner’s family said that her condition had deteriorated since her injury, and the money will pay for her round-the-clock care.

In the settlement, Loveland authorities apologized to Garner and her family. As part of the settlement, they said they would continue an independent investigation into Hopp’s conduct and also make changes to how they review cases regarding police use of force. Hopp was being criminally investigated for his actions at the time. He was charged with second-degree assault in the arrest.

“The settlement with Karen Garner will help bring some closure to an unfortunate event in our community but does not upend the work we have left to do,” City Manager Steve Adams said.

The Garner family was not in favor of the plea deal, saying publicly they believe the evidence shows beyond a shadow of doubt that the officers are guilty of the crime.

John Garner and Shannon Steward, the son and daughter-in-law of the victim, spoke on local TV after they learned Hopp had been offered a plea deal. The family said they had been “adamant” with the court that they would not accept a plea deal.

“When you hear the word plea ‘bargain,’ plea ‘deal,’ that means to cheapen something and we feel that this whole case is being cheapened by not allowing it to just go to court,” Shannon said.