Former Colorado police officer sentenced to 45 days in jail in rough arrest of 73-year-old woman with dementia

A former police officer from Loveland, Colorado, was sentenced Friday to 45 days in jail for her role in the rough arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia in 2020. 

Daria Jalali earlier pleaded guilty in the arrest of Karen Garner. She had faced up to 60 days in jail for failing to step in when another officer was being rough with the woman. Following her jail sentence, Jalali will have three years of probation.

Lawmakers stepped up penalties for the crime in 2020 as part of a police reform bill passed during protests over racial injustice and police brutality that year. 

Former officer Austin Hopp arrested Garner after she left a store without paying for about $14 worth of items. Police body camera video released last year shows Garner repeatedly saying that she was trying to go home.

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After Garner turns away from him, the footage shows Hopp grabbing her arm and pushing her to the ground and handcuffing her. Later, he pushed her against the hood of his car and, after she tries to turn around, he moves her bent left arm up near her head. Soon after, Garner began to slump toward the ground. Jalali, who arrived after Garner was handcuffed, says, “Stand up! We’re not going to hold you.”

Garner filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Loveland and police officers. Garner’s lawyer said her client suffered a dislocated shoulder and a fractured humerus bone during the interaction.

Hopp was sentenced in May to five years in prison for his treatment of Garner. Loveland settled a lawsuit filed by Garner for $3 million. Her family has said her condition deteriorated after her arrest, and she requires around-the-clock care as a result.

Jalali apologized to Garner and her family in court, the Loveland Reporter-Herald reported. She told Judge Joshua Lehman that she thought Garner was intoxicated and believed Garner was only complaining about her handcuffs so she could get out of them.

“I wanted to be a good police officer and my heart was in the right place, but I still came up short,” she said.

Lehman said Jalali should have known Garner was a “delicate” woman suffering from a mental health issue.

Loveland is about 50 miles north of Denver.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.