Ex-Colorado Officer Pleads Guilty To Assaulting Elderly Woman With Dementia

Austin Hopp, a former Colorado police officer has accepted a plea deal two years after assaulting Karen Garner, a 73-year-old woman with dementia.

Hopp, formerly of the Loveland Police Department in Colorado, pleaded guilty to a single charge of second-degree assault, a class four felony, on Wednesday, March 2.

Hopp made headlines in April last year after Garner's attorney released the bodycam footage of her June 26, 2020 arrest.

The footage showed Hopp and another former officer, Daria Jalali using excessive force while arresting Garner, who, according to the arrest affidavit, indicated "obvious deficiency" in comprehending her surroundings.

Garner was accused of walking out of a Walmart without paying for items worth $13.

In the police bodycam video, Hopp can be seen approaching Garner and asking, "Do you need to be arrested right now?"

As she turned away from him, Hopp grabbed her arm and pushed her to the ground. He then lifted her and pushed her against the hood of his car, as she repeated that she was just trying to go home.

At that time, she was still holding the wildflowers she had been picking as she walked through a field.

Another surveillance footage from inside the Loveland police station showed Hopp, Jalali, and former community service officer, Tyler Blackett, reviewing and commenting on the body cam footage.

At one point Hopp can be heard referencing the video and saying, "ready for the pop? Hear that pop?"

"I can't get those pictures of my mom being thrown to the ground. Humiliated. Officer Hopp smiling, laughing, giving fist bumps. We want justice and the only way it was going to happen is if he went to court and let a jury decide," said Garner's son John Steward, per local news station Fox31.

In May 2021, Garner filed a civil complaint accusing the officers of violating her rights during the arrest.

According to the complaint, Garner sustained contusions and a bloody nose. She also accused the officers of dislocating her shoulder and fracturing her arm as they twisted her into submission.

"Today our office secured a guilty plea to Class 4 Felony Assault for former Loveland officer Austin Hopp related to his arrest of Karen Garner," Larimer and Jackson County District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin wrote in a tweet on Wednesday.

"This result brings significant criminal accountability for his assault of Ms. Garner & shows such abuse of power will not be tolerated," DA McLaughlin added.

Hopp accepted a plea deal that would lessen his sentence from 10-30 years to 2-8 years if the case had gone to trial.

Hopp had also been charged with attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor. Those charges were not included in the plea deal.

Jalali was charged with failing to stop or report his actions and official misconduct, all misdemeanors.

"What happened to Ms. Garner was deplorable and a stark reminder that no police officer is above the law, which is why Austin Hopp is no longer associated with our department," Chief Bob Ticer of the Roswell Police Department told PEOPLE in a statement.

"We appreciate the District Attorney's efforts in pursuing justice for Ms. Garner and her family," the chief said.

Hopp is scheduled to be sentenced on May 5.