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Video has been released of police officers laughing as they watch the body camera footage of the brutal arrest of a 73-year-old dementia patient that left her with a dislocated shoulder.
Officers Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali of the Loveland, Colorado police department arrested Karen Garner in June last year after she left a Walmart with $14 of goods for which she had not paid. Her family says that her condition led to her leaving the store without paying.
The shocking body camera footage has already been released and shows Mr Hopp tackling the terrified woman, handcuffing her, and pushing her hard against the police car.
In the new surveillance footage made public by Ms Garner’s attorney, Mr Hopp can be heard saying “Ready for the pop?” in reference to her shoulder.
Mr Hopp also says: “I can’t believe I threw a 73-year-old on the ground.”
Ms Jalali comments: “It’s like live TV… Body-cams are my favorite thing to watch, I could watch livestream body-cams all day.”
At the start of the hour-long footage, the officers are shown carrying Ms Garner into a cell. She repeatedly says she was going to pay for the items she left the store with. They speculate as to whether she may be on drugs or “losing it”.
Acting for Ms Garner, attorney Sarah Schielke said in a statement: “This is utterly disgusting. These videos cannot be unseen or unheard. I am sorry to have to share them with the public. This will be traumatic and deeply upsetting for everyone to see.”
“But as it often goes with bad police departments, it seems this is the only way to make them change,” she continued. “They have to be exposed. If I didn’t release this, the Loveland Police’s toxic culture of arrogance and entitlement, along with their horrific abuse of the vulnerable and powerless, would carry on, business as usual.”
The Life & Liberty Law Office says that as the officers fist bump each other while watching the video, Ms Garner was handcuffed to a bench in a cell ten feet away, confused and crying in pain. She did not receive medical attention for six hours.
Mr Hopp has been placed on administrative leave and Ms Jalali and the third officer seen in the surveillance video have been reassigned to desk duties until the various investigations are completed.
The 8th Judicial District Attorney’s office, in conjunction with the FBI and Fort Collins Police, has opened a criminal investigation into the Loveland Police.
Ms Garner’s family said in a statement that the team’s investigation was a “small, but long overdue, step in the right direction”.
“Clearly, the newly elected DA understands what we suspected last summer — that only an independent, outside investigation, with all the world’s attention, will reveal the truth,” they said.
A judge dismissed charges of theft, obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest against Ms Garner in August after the district attorney’s office concluded that she “appears to be incapable of understanding her surroundings or her actions”.
The City of Loveland is yet to comment on the new footage.
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