A former Colorado police officer was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of probation on Thursday for assaulting a 73-year-old woman with dementia while arresting her on suspicion of stealing items worth about $ 14 from Walmart.
Officer Austin Hop, 27, a former Loveland police officer, pleaded guilty to assault on March 2 in connection with the attack on the woman, Karen Garner, now 75. She suffered a dislocated shoulder and a broken bone when she was thrown to the ground and pinned during her arrest in 2020.
Sarah Schilke, Ms. Garner’s lawyer, said in an interview Thursday that she had been acquitted of a sentence handed down by Judge Michelle Brinegar of the Larimer County District Court, and that five years was “probably the exact size of the prison.” -n Hop.
“For too long, we have witnessed too many police officers receiving special treatment every step of the way,” she said. “While the trial here with Hop was not perfect, I think the result we got of the criminal conviction was at least or in line with how normal citizens will be treated.
Mr Hop’s lawyer, Jonathan Datz, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Thursday.
Austin Hop apologized to Karen Garner in court and said he had “misjudged” the situation. Credit … Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, through the Associated Press
Speaking publicly about the attack for the first time during the hearing, Mr Hop apologized to Ms Garner and her family, according to The Denver Post. He said he did not act out of cruelty or anger during the meeting, but rather “misjudged” the situation.
“I am really ashamed of my actions,” he said, according to the newspaper.
Footage from the police body camera, released last spring by Ms. Schilke, shows a police officer grabbing Ms. Garner on June 26, 2020 and throwing her to the ground. She was returning home from nearby Walmart, where officers called police because they said she left without paying $ 13.88.
Ms. Garner, who has dementia and sensory aphasia that impairs her ability to understand and communicate, forgot to pay for the items, according to her lawyer. A lawsuit filed last April against the town of Loveland alleges that the officers who arrested Ms. Garner broke a bone in her arm and dislocated her shoulder, and that she was not treated for six hours.
In September, Loveland agreed to pay Ms. Garner $ 3 million to settle the case against the city.
Another video, also released by Ms. Garner’s lawyer last spring, shows police laughing at footage of Ms. Garner’s arrest. “I love him,” said one officer. “This is great.”
Mr. Hop and another officer who arrested Ms. Garner, along with a community service officer who hired her and accused her of refusing medical care, resigned in April 2021. Mr. Hop was one of the two officers who faced criminal charges. The second, Daria Jalali, was accused of failing to intervene in a case of excessive force or failing to report it, prosecutors said. Her case is pending, said Gordon P. McLaughlin, Larimer County District Attorney.
In an interview Thursday, Mr McLaughlin said the case was more than excessive.
“This case also had lies, cover-ups and, frankly, one of the most horrifying things for me was the celebration that Mr Hop participated in the police station in the reservation area, where he laughed at what he did.” said Mr. McLaughlin.
He added: “This was someone who was in power, showing that he did not care about the humanity of the citizens he swore to serve.”
Sheelagh McNeill contributed to the study.
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