3 Colorado officers ‘no longer with department’ over arrest of 73-year-old with dementia

LOVELAND, Colo. (KDVR) — Three Colorado officers involved in the rough arrest and booking of a 73-year-old woman with dementia are out of the job, officials said Friday.

Officer Austin Hopp, who arrested Karen Garner, Officer Daria Jalali, who was also on the scene, and Officer Tyler Blackett, who helped transport Garner to the police station, are all no longer employed by the department Loveland Police Department Chief Robert Ticer announced.

Bodycam video shows Hopp arresting Garner after she left a Loveland, Colorado Walmart in June 2020 without paying a $14 grocery bill. After confronting Garner, who appears to be confused, Hopp takes her to the ground and handcuffs her.

Attorneys filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Garner’s behalf earlier this month, saying her shoulder was dislocated during the arrest and she didn’t receive medical care for about six hours after being taken to the county jail.

Surveillance video from the police station released Monday by Garner’s lawyer shows Hopp, Jalali and Blackett watching Hopp’s body camera footage as Garner is handcuffed to a bench in a holding cell a few feet away.

As the officers watched body the footage, Hopp said, “Ready for the pop?”, suggesting he was aware that he had injured her. The department had said previously they were not aware Garner was injured.

All three officers had been on leave since the surveillance video was released. Ticer did not indicate whether the officers had been fired or resigned when asked by NewsNation affiliate KDVR.