Shameful Colorado a cop who broke a 73-year-old dementia the hand of the victim during the violent arrest can be sentenced to probation after concluding a plea deal that infuriated the victim’s family.
Loveland police officer Austin Hop, 26, was fired and charged with assault in a second-degree assault in an attempt to influence a government official and misconduct in May 2021 for the arrest of Karen Garner after the elderly woman left Walmart in June 2020 with soda that forgot to pay.
Hop was facing a mandatory sentence of 10 to 32 years on those charges – but now he has pleaded guilty to one count of assault of the second degree, a crime of the fourth degree, which can lead him to withdraw only by probation.
“She had requests that were ignored,” Garner’s daughter-in-law Shannon Steward told reporters in front of the courthouse on Wednesday. “And we have to come here today to honor him for this plea deal.” It’s a slap in the face.
In June 2020, Hop pushed the 80-pound grandmother, then 73, to the ground and arrested her for allegedly leaving Walmart for less than $ 14 in products, according to camera footage released as part of a federal civilian investigation. a lawsuit filed by Garner’s family.
The case alleges that she suffered a dislocated shoulder, a broken humerus and a sprained wrist. Subsequent video from the police department showed Hop bragging about his arrest as Garner lay in a cell for the next six hours, screaming in pain over his arm.
Disgraced cop Austin Hop is pictured in court on Wednesday when he pleaded guilty to a single charge of assaulting a woman suffering from dementia in a plea deal that could lead him to avoid jail
Austin Hop, 26, pleaded guilty to a single charge of second-degree assault, a fourth-degree felony, on Wednesday
A former Loveland, Colorado, right police officer has been charged for the first time with a second-degree assault, attempted assault on a government official and misconduct last year.
He was facing 32 years in prison for the 2020 arrest of Karen Garner, then a 73-year-old woman with dementia who is said to have left Walmart with products under $ 14
Garner, who often forgets things, kept saying, “I’m going home,” over and over again as the officer pushed her to the ground, breaking her arm in the process.
Loveland city leaders fired Hop and his partner, Daria Jalali, last year. They also paid Garner, now 75, a $ 3 million settlement, but nothing can repair the damage to deteriorating quality of life, daughter-in-law Shannon Steward told DailyMail.com over the weekend.
The standard sentence for a second-degree assault is two to eight years, but 8th District Judge Michel Brinegar can choose probation or community correction after hearing evidence from both sides of the upcoming May 5 sentencing hearing, according to Loveland Reporter-Herald.
On Wednesday, Steward asked the court why Hop was given a plea deal.
Prior to the incident, her mother-in-law lived alone under constant surveillance by the family, who used a tracker on her phone to see where she was.
She had left him at home the day Hop was shaken.
Today, she lives in a dementia facility, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and no longer recognizes her three children and nine grandchildren.
“Karen kept repeating things, showing me her new cover three times while I was visiting, things like that. But she didn’t leave the stove on, it wasn’t dangerous. She loved to walk, she loved to be active, “Steward told DailyMail.com.
Hop boasted of his arrest as Garner lay in a cell for the next six hours, screaming in pain from a broken arm and a sprained shoulder. In the photo, she is sitting in her cell in pain
Hop, meanwhile, boasted about the arrest, saying: “I think it went great. I think we crushed him
Shannon Steward, Garner’s daughter-in-law, objected to Wednesday’s plea agreement. “She had requests that were ignored,” she told Garner. “And we have to come here today to honor him for this plea deal.” It’s a slap in the face. “
“After the incident, all she could say was why did they do this to me?” Why did they do this to me? She couldn’t discuss it, she just kept saying it over and over.
“She didn’t trust anyone.” Doctors and nurses tried to enter her room, and she closed the door. She wanted to be left alone. She could not get the Covid vaccine because she did not allow anyone to touch her.
“We were told by the hospital that the post-traumatic stress disorder had accelerated her dementia. She didn’t even let us hug her.
Steward said the family had explicitly asked prosecutors not to enter into a plea deal when they first met with prosecutors last May, according to KUSA.
She said the family had asked for a week to consider the plea agreement when prosecutors filed it last week, but still decided they wanted a trial.
“I’m really disappointed that the district attorney will make a request,” said John Steward, Garner’s son and Shannon’s husband, last week. “He caught us unprepared, shocked, disappointed.”
District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin promotes a plea deal in a tweet Wednesday.
“This result carries significant criminal responsibility for his attack on Ms. Garner and shows that such abuse of power will not be tolerated,” he said.
The Loveland Police Department praised McLaughlin’s quest for justice.
“What happened to Ms. Garner is a stark reminder that no police officer is above the law. We appreciate the prosecutor’s efforts in the pursuit of justice for Ms. Garner and her family. ” said.
Garner’s family says she was not the same from the incident and now lives in a facility with patients with dementia.
Hop’s body footage shows him catching up with her as she crosses a field. Left – his partner Daria Jalali, who was also fired later
Jalali faces charges of failing to report excessive use of force, non-interference and first-degree misconduct. DailyMail.com revealed that she was previously in a romantic relationship with Hop
Steward said he believed there was more than enough evidence to secure a conviction on all three initial charges.
“I am very disappointed,” she said, according to the Reporter-Herald. “We’ve come so far.” There is so much evidence that he must be tried. I do not understand this. We don’t understand many things. Our God is much greater and more powerful than this, and at the end of the day he will see justice.
Body footage shows Hop catching up with Garner as she picks flowers on her way home and gives her only seconds to comply before he fiercely pushes her to the ground and connects her.
Garner, who often forgets things because she suffers from dementia and sensory aphasia, cries out in pain and repeats the phrase “I’m going home” over and over again as the growling officer drags her to his patrol car.
As she lay in a cell for the next six hours, screaming in pain from a broken arm and a sprained shoulder, Hop was recorded by the police surveillance system laughing and joking as she played her shots to colleagues.
– Are you ready for pop? they heard him say as he relived the moment Garner pinned himself to his car and pulled her hand furiously behind her back.
“I think it went great. I think we crushed him, “he grinned, punching his partner Daria Jalali. “I was like, ‘Okay, let’s fight, girl. Let’s break it!
DailyMail.com revealed last April that Hop and Jalali, who also lost her job due to her involvement in Garner’s arrest, had previously been in a romantic relationship.
She faces charges of failing to report excessive use of force, non-interference and first-degree misconduct.