CO Officers Who Arrested Woman With Dementia Laugh Off Incident

New footage regarding a June 2020 incident in which Loveland Police officers violently arrested a 73-year-old woman with dementia shows the officers who conducted the arrest laughing about the incident afterward — even going as far as congratulating themselves on the arrest.

The video footage, which had been released by the 73-year-old woman's lawyer (according to the Denver Post), shows the officers who made the arrest, Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali, re-watching body camera footage and laughing about the incident in the Loveland Police Department booking area — all while the 73-year-old woman, Karen Garner, sat handcuffed to a bench in a nearby cell.

As a result of the violent arrest, the police officers fractured Garner’s arm and dislocated her shoulder, Garner's family has reported.

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“Ready for the pop?” an officer identified by Garner’s lawyer as Austin Hopp said to other officers while re-watching the body camera footage together.

“What popped?” another officer asked.

“I think it was her shoulder,” Hopp responded.

In the released video footage from the booking area, Hopp can also be heard saying, “I can’t believe I threw a 73-year-old on the ground,” and saying he loved watching the body camera footage of his fight with the elderly woman.

Garner’s attorney, Sarah Schielke, said the video of the officers laughing about the incident was disgusting.

“These videos cannot be unseen or unheard,” she said.

Hopp approached Garner on June 26, 2020, after Walmart employees called the police to report that Garner tried to walk out of the store with $13 worth of merchandise. Store employees made Garner leave the merchandise at the store; Garner’s family believes that she forgot to pay for the items and was simply confused due to her dementia.

The Denver Post says Hopp found Garner walking home on a nearby road and took her to the ground within 30 seconds of contacting her after she refused to stop walking. He then handcuffed her, forced her against his police cruiser and later used a hobble to restrain her feet.

The body camera footage below, released by the Life & Liberty Law Office in Loveland after Garner’s family filed a federal lawsuit, has drawn national attention to the case. The Loveland Police Department placed Hopp on administrative leave and re-assigned Jalali to administrative duties while it investigated the incident.

Attorney Sarah Schielke added two more officers to the case on Monday (Apr. 26)— Tyler Blackett and Antolina Hill — as defendants in the lawsuit, alleging they knew Garner was injured but did not provide her with medical care while she was held in the booking cell. The federal lawsuit alleges Karen Garner did not receive any type of medical care exceeding six hours after her arrest.

As of Monday, the Loveland Police Department had not responded to the latest reports pertaining the June 2020 incident.