An elderly family dementia a patient who was seen being brutally arrested by a Colorado in shocking videos, the cop revealed his disgust at a controversial plea deal that could lead to his release in a year.
Austin Hop, a 26-year-old police officer, was fired and charged with grievous bodily harm after his police camera filmed him throwing 73-year-old Karen Garner to the ground and breaking her arm.
The 80-pound grandmother was left sobbing in pain in a prison cell for six hours, while the gleeful Hop repeated the disgusting arrest of his colleagues and boasted, “We crushed him!”
Accused of a felony of second-degree assault, attempting to influence a government official and misconduct, a recruit from the Loveland Police Department was jailed 30 years ago.
However, Garner’s family learned last week that prosecutors were offering the perverted bully a plea deal that would reduce his charges and likely reduce his sentence to just a few years when sealed at an upcoming hearing.
Footage from Bodycam shows Hop throwing Karen Garner to the ground on June 26, 2020.
Garner’s daughter-in-law Shannon Steward said the incident was “the lowest form of human behavior and obscenity.”
Shannon Steward, Garner’s daughter-in-law, told DailyMail.com that her relatives are strongly against the pact and will make a sincere request to the judge when Hop appears in the Larimer County court on Wednesday morning.
Karen didn’t resist. She is not fighting. She doesn’t swear. She did nothing to deserve this inhuman treatment, “said Steward, who is married to Garner’s son John.
“You would expect this policeman to take her home safely so that he would not abuse her, throw her away, attack her and then leave her locked up for six hours with a dislocated shoulder.
“We think there is more than enough evidence to get a guilty verdict, so why make a deal now?” This makes what happened to Karen cheaper, it’s not fair.
Steward said her sociable, friendly mother-in-law never recovered from her brutal ordeal in June 2020 at the hands of Hop, who haunted her for forgetting to pay $ 13 for Walmart, including Pepsi and candy. .
Hop’s body footage shows him catching up with her as she passes through a field
Garner’s family said she was a happy grandmother (right) before the traumatic arrest in June 2020, when she was left in a prison cell in pain with her broken arm, still handcuffed behind her (left)
Footage from the camera, carried by the body, shows him 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 cop drags her to his team.
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 said to myself, “Okay, let’s fight, girl. Let’s break it!
Garner did not face any further action, but the damn video evidence instead led to criminal charges against Hop and Jalali, 27.
Loveland city leaders fired both and paid Garner, now 75, a $ 3 million settlement, but nothing could repair the damage to her declining quality of life, Steward told DailyMail.com.
Austin Hop, left, and Daria Jalali, right, surrendered after arrest warrants were issued
Prior to the incident, her mother-in-law lived alone under constant surveillance from 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, “said Steward.
“After the incident, all she could say was why did they do this to me?” Why did they do this to me? He couldn’t discuss it, he 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.
Garner’s family says they were expecting an April trial against Hop when they were surprisingly contacted last week by Assistant District Attorney Matt Mayaro and asked to reconsider a potential plea agreement that would remove less serious charges and reduce charges. attack.
Steward says the family spent hours discussing what was best before deciding to reject it – just so Milaro could continue.
They will come face to face with Hop at this week’s hearing, where they were advised that Judge Michelle Brinegar could sentence him to anything from two to six years in prison.
Given his clean record, good manners and Covid’s urgent directives in Colorado, Hop may return to the streets in just a year, they fear.
“We were surprised. We were unhappy. “Karen has no ability to understand what’s going on with the case, but we looked at it as a family and said no,” Steward said.
“There is a lot of evidence and our position is that this should go to court. In less than 24 hours, he said he was still doing it.
“It’s not just us, our city – the video went global, the world was outraged when they saw this video. We’ll have to go to the judge and ask him to give Karen what she deserves, her day in court.
The prosecutor’s office declined to provide additional information on the potential plea deal.
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.