COLLEEN SLEVIN,
Associated Press
April 26, 2021
Updated: April 26, 2021 9:36 p.m.
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado police officer accused of dislocating the shoulder of a 73-year-old woman with dementia while arresting her seemed to be aware he had injured her. He told fellow officers “ready for the pop?” as he showed them his body camera footage, according to police station surveillance video with enhanced audio that was made public Monday by the woman's lawyer.
Officer Austin Hopp made the comment while showing the other officers the part of the arrest that shows Karen Garner being held against the hood of a patrol car in Loveland, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Denver last year, her handcuffed left arm bent up behind her head. The body camera footage, which can be heard but not seen on the surveillance video, was also previously released by Garner's lawyer.
The videos plus a lawsuit filed against Hopp, other officers and the city and investigations into the arrest came this month amid a national reckoning over the use of force by police against people — including those with mental and physical health conditions.
The surveillance video captured in the Loveland police station shows two other officers, one male and female, watching the footage with Hopp as he makes the “pop” comment. The female officer, who helped during the arrest and says “I hate this.”
More:
https://www.chron.com/news/article/Cop-accused-of-hurting-woman-s-arm-Ready-for-16130361.php#taboola-1
Cops Tackled a Grandma With Dementia Picking Flowers, Bodycam Footage Shows
The officer grabbed the 73-year-old woman, threw her to the grass, and twisted her arms behind her back.
EO
By Emma Ockerman
April 16, 2021, 1:20pm
73-YEAR-OLD KAREN GARNER WAS TACKLED BY POLICE WHO SUSPECTED HER OF SHOPLIFTING FROM A WALMART IN LOVELAND, COLORADO. (PHOTO: LOVELAND POLICE BODYCAMERA FOOTAGE)
A 73-year-old grandmother of nine was picking wildflowers on the side of the road in Loveland, Colorado, last summer when a local cop got out of his patrol vehicle and told her to stop—beginning a police encounter that ultimately left her with broken bones, bruised, and traumatized.
Loveland Police Officer Austin Hopp had been driving behind Karen Garner with his overhead lights on because she was accused of shoplifting from a nearby Walmart. But Garner did not appear to notice, according to body camera footage published by Garner’s attorney Wednesday.
Garner has dementia and sensory aphasia, an inability to understand spoken and written speech, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on her behalf this week against the city of Loveland and three officers involved in Garner’s arrest.
Hopp asked Garner why she didn’t stop after he activated his lights and siren, at which point Garner gave him a blank expression, said something unintelligible, and started to move away.
“No, no, no,” Hopp said, according to bodycam footage.
Hopp then grabbed the 80-pound woman, threw her to the grass, and twisted her arms behind her back, bodycam footage shows. Garner was still clutching a handful of wildflowers. A second cop, Daria Jalali, arrived within minutes and assisted in the arrest.
More:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8487/cops-tackled-a-grandma-with-dementia-picking-flowers-bodycam-footage-shows
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Loveland officer placed on leave, 2 others reassigned after lawsuit filed in woman's arrest
By: Ryan Osborne Posted at 1:45 PM, Apr 15, 2021 and last updated 4:09 PM, Apr 16, 2021
The suit says when Officer Daria Jalali arrived on scene she, "put her own hands on Ms. Garner to hold her while Officer Hopp continued pushing painfully upward on Ms. Garner’s already-restrained left arm and while also violently touching her all over her body."
Throughout the video the 73-year-old woman is exclaiming, “I’m going home!” to officers.
"It makes you very worried about vulnerable people in the community with a police force like that," said Schielke. "The behavior is indefensible they knew they were being recorded and yet they did it anyway, we have to ask, 'why?'"
Garner was eventually taken to a hospital for treatment. The district attorney’s office completely dismissed the case and charges against her, the law office said. She is currently living in a memory care facility.
More:
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/front-range/loveland/loveland-officer-placed-on-leave-2-others-reassigned-after-lawsuit-filed-in-womans-arrest
Photo courtesy of Life and Liberty Law Office
Officers Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali are seen fist-bumping each other while discussing the arrest of Karen Garner on June 26, 2020. This newly released surveillance video footage was sent out by Garner’s attorney, Sarah Schielke, in a press release April 26, 2020.
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