Three Colorado cops resign after they callously laughed at bodycam footage of themselves ‘breaking arm and dislocating shoulder’ of 73-year-old dementia sufferer
- Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer announced officers Austin Hopp, Daria Jalali and community service officer Tyler Blackett are no longer employed by his department
- ‘What you saw on the video was not the Loveland Police Department’ the chief told reporters on Friday
- The resignations come amid a lawsuit filed on behalf of Karen Garner, 73, who was arrested in June 2020 by the officers after she left a Colorado Walmart without paying for $13 worth of items
- The officers slammed the 73-year-old to the ground as they arrested her while she cried out in confusion
- Officers Hopp and Jalali were caught on security video fist-bumping each other and joking about her arrest as they watched the bodycam footage
- DailyMail.com revealed that officers Hopp and Jalali are in a romantic relationship and moved in together while officer Hopp was still married
A Colorado police department announced that three police officers involved in the violent arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia are no longer employed there.
Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer announced Friday that officers Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali, and community service officer Tyler Blackett, are no longer employed by his department.
Department spokesman Tom Hacker later confirmed they had resigned, CBS reported.
The chief also issued a public apology for the behavior of the officers. ‘Our goal at the Loveland Police Department has always been to make our community proud,’ Ticer said. ‘We failed and we are very sorry for that.’
‘What you saw on the video was not the Loveland Police Department. It hurt to see that.’
Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali were both fired from their jobs at Loveland Police Department in Colorado on Friday over their arrest of a 73 year-old dementia sufferer
Loveland Police Chief Bob Ticer (pictured) announced that officers Austin Hopp, Daria Jalali and community service officer Tyler Blackett are no longer employed by his department
DailyMail.com revealed that officers Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali (pictured) are in a romantic relationship and moved in together while Hopp was still married
Bodycam footage captured the arrest of 73-year-old Karen Garner (pictured) who was slammed to the ground by officer Hopp after she repeatedly said: ‘I’m going home’
In June 2020, Karen Garner was arrested by Hopp and Jalali after she left a Colorado Walmart without paying for $13 worth of items. Before Garner’s arrest, the store recovered the items and informed police before they arrived.
The responding officers found Garner picking flowers by the side of the road. Bodycam footage captured them slamming the 73-year-old to the ground as they arrested her while she cried out in confusion.
She was then taken to the local police station where she sat in a jail holding cell awaiting booking for six hours, crying in pain over her arm injuries.
Hopp and Jalali were caught on security video fist-bumping each other and joking over footage of the arrest, alongside officer Tyler Blackett, while Garner could be heard from the holding cell begging for help.
A federal lawsuit filed on Garner’s behalf names a total of five officers involved in the arrest or who were at the jail, including the three who resigned and Sgt. Phil Metzler, who remains with the department but is on administrative leave. It accuses them of violating her civil rights.
DailyMail.com revealed that Hopp and Jalali are in a romantic relationship and moved in together while Hopp was still married.
The video went viral this month after it was released with the lawsuit, which also names the city of Loveland, thedenverchannel.com reported. It alleges the officers used excessive force while arresting Garner and failed to provide her with proper medical care or to intervene when the alleged excessive force was being used.
Garner (pictured) was transported to a local police station where she sat in a jail holding cell awaiting booking for six hours crying in pain over her arm injuries
Photos taken in the aftermath of the arrest show Garner with a severely bruised and swollen arm
‘For the six hours that Ms. Garner was kept in custody by Loveland and the jail, despite many jokes made about her being disabled and mentally unfit, no one attempted to locate Ms. Garner’s caregiver, console or help her, de-escalate her, or alert her loved ones to her terrible situation,’ the lawsuit says.
Garner was ultimately diagnosed with a fractured arm, dislocated shoulder as well as a sprained wrist and was covered in scrapes and bruises, according the lawsuit.
She has never regained full mobility in her arm, her lawyer Sarah Shielke told DailyMail.com.
She still needs help with everyday tasks like getting dressed or showering, Shielke said, because of her injuries.
The incident is currently under criminal investigations at the request of the district attorney as well as an internal affairs investigation handled by the city’s human resources director, Ticer said.