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A former Colorado police officer who injured an elderly woman with dementia during an arrest in 2020 was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison.
Austin Hopp, a former officer with the Loveland Police Department, appeared in a Larimer County court after pleading guilty to charges related to the June 26, 2020 arrest of Karen Garner.
A federal lawsuit said police slammed Garner, who was 73 at the time, to the ground and hogtied her during an arrest.
Judge Michelle Brinegar said Hopp used his "position of power and authority to show off his toughness, disregard any sense of humanity, displayed an alarming degree of criminal thinking and caused a great deal of harm and trauma."
"This case is not about a mistake," she said before handing down the sentence. "I do think you are sorry but I don’t think you get it."
Hopp was also sentenced to three years of mandatory parole.
The arrest happened after Garner was accused of stealing about $14 worth of items from a Walmart. An attorney for Garner said she has dementia and sensory aphasia, which impairs her ability to verbally communicate with people or understand others’ communications.
The attorney said because of the dementia, Garner forgot to pay for the items, which were retrieved by Walmart employees.
Body camera video released by the attorney showed Hopp telling Garner to stop and talk to him as she walked home.
Garner was seen on the video shrugging her shoulders as she continued to walk.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-officer-injured-colorado-woman-204308005.html
A former Colorado police officer who injured an elderly woman with dementia during an arrest in 2020 was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison.
Austin Hopp, a former officer with the Loveland Police Department, appeared in a Larimer County court after pleading guilty to charges related to the June 26, 2020 arrest of Karen Garner.
A federal lawsuit said police slammed Garner, who was 73 at the time, to the ground and hogtied her during an arrest.
Judge Michelle Brinegar said Hopp used his "position of power and authority to show off his toughness, disregard any sense of humanity, displayed an alarming degree of criminal thinking and caused a great deal of harm and trauma."
"This case is not about a mistake," she said before handing down the sentence. "I do think you are sorry but I don’t think you get it."
Hopp was also sentenced to three years of mandatory parole.
The arrest happened after Garner was accused of stealing about $14 worth of items from a Walmart. An attorney for Garner said she has dementia and sensory aphasia, which impairs her ability to verbally communicate with people or understand others’ communications.
The attorney said because of the dementia, Garner forgot to pay for the items, which were retrieved by Walmart employees.
Body camera video released by the attorney showed Hopp telling Garner to stop and talk to him as she walked home.
Garner was seen on the video shrugging her shoulders as she continued to walk.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-officer-injured-colorado-woman-204308005.html