The two cops who beat up a 73-year-old dementia patient in Colorado last June turned themselves in on Thursday and have been charged after warrants were issued for their arrest.
Body camera footage shows Austin Hopp, 26, and Daria Jalali, 27, confronting Karen Garner as she left a Walmart store in Loveland without paying for $13-worth of items on June 26 before one of the officers then broke her arm during the arrest.
Later, surveillance footage surfaced that shows the former Loveland Police Department officers fist bumping and laughing while watching the body camera videos as Garner was locked up in a jail cell in pain just feet away.
Hopp and Jalali surrendered themselves to the Larimer County Jail and have since been pictured in their mugshots, with Jalali appearing to smirk in hers. Hopp was arrested around 8.30am with Jalali turning herself in about an hour later.
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Austin Hopp, left, and Daria Jalali, right, turned themselves in on Thursday morning after warrants were issued for their arrest
Karen Garner, 73, was violently arrested by Loveland police officers Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali last June after she left a Walmart store without paying
Photos taken in the aftermath of the arrest show Garner with a bruised and swollen arm
Bodycam footage showed Hopp throwing Garner to the ground on June 26, 2020
Hopp later appeared in court on Thursday afternoon while wearing a yellow jumpsuit and his hands in handcuffs, KCNC-TV reported.
Officials had issued warrants for their arrest on Wednesday.
Hopp has been charged with second-degree assault and attempt to influence a public servant, both felonies, as well as the misdemeanor charge of official misconduct, 8th Judicial District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin announced.
Jalali’s charges, all misdemeanors, are for failing to report a use of force, failing to intervene and official misconduct.
McLaughlin said on Wednesday that the officers ‘had indications they do plan to turn themselves in’ when the charges were announced on Wednesday.
He added that Hopp made ‘substantial omissions’ in interviews about the arrest ‘in an attempt to thwart the investigation of his conduct’.
Garner’s family filed a federal lawsuit last month against the officers and their supervisor, who subsequently resigned.
Sarah Schielke, an attorney for the family, said the announcement of charges left ‘more questions than answers and more concern than relief’.
Hopp’s body camera footage shows him catching up to her as she walked through a field
Schlieke said the family wants to see Loveland’s police chief resign and the entire department investigated over its practices.
Schlieke held a press conference shortly after McLaughlin’s, with Garner’s daughter Allisa Swartz and daughter-in-law Shannon Steward.
‘District attorneys have no problem throwing the book at regular citizens … why was the district attorney’s office so thoughtful and sparing in their charging of the officers involved in this?’ Schielke asked.
Steward added: ‘The charges can’t stop with Hopp and Jalali, they need to continue.’
Attorney Sarah Schlieke (left) held a press conference on Wednesday alongside Garner’s daughter Allisa Swartz (center) and daughter-in-law Shannon Steward (right) after prosecutors announced charges against the cops involved in last summer’s arrest
Austin Hopp (right) and Daria Jalali (right) were charged Wednesday in connection with Garner’s arrest. Hopp is facing charges of second-degree assault, attempt to influence a public servant. Jalali is facing charges of failing to report a use of force, failing to intervene and official misconduct
The family claims that Garner suffered post-traumatic stress after her arrest that has caused her dementia to worsen.
‘We went to see her for Mother’s Day and she’s just really scared and traumatized. Instead of embracing us because we are her loved ones, she pushes away,’ Swartz said.
Schielke said the family still have yet to receive a direct apology from anyone in the Loveland Police Department.
She also noted that no charges have been filed in relation to the video which showed Hopp, Jalali and another officer laughing at body-camera footage of Garner’s arrest.
Garner’s daughter Allisa Swartz (pictured) said her mother has suffered intense post-traumatic stress over the past year
‘You can see in the video how they’re laughing at my mom and making fun of her, and it feels like they’re hiding behind this department,’ Swartz said.
During the June 2020 incident, Garner had walked out of the Walmart with a candy bar, a can of Pepsi, a T-shirt and wipe refills.
Garner was stopped by staff and asked to return to the store, where they recovered the unpaid merchandise – but employees still contacted law enforcement.
Hopp’s body camera footage shows him catching up to her as she walked through a field.
In the footage, Garner appears visibly confused and repeatedly tells the officers she is on her way home.
‘Ma’am I don’t think you want to play it this way,’ Hopp says. ‘You just left Walmart. Do you need to be arrested right now?’
After she turned away from him, he quickly grabbed her arm and pushed the 80-pound woman to the ground, the footage shows. She suffered a dislocated shoulder, according to the lawsuit.
Surveillance footage showed Hopp and Jalali fist bumping and laughing while watching the footage as Garner was locked up in a jail cell in pain just feet away
Medical staff said she also endured a broken arm and sprained wrist, KCNC-TV reported.
Garner is heard crying out in pain and confusion. She was then taken to the local police station where she sat in a jail holding cell awaiting booking for six hours.
During this time, she received no medical assistance despite crying in pain over her arm injuries.
The footage shows she cried out for help 51 times in the first hour alone while the officers sat ignoring her just 10 feet away, the lawsuit says.
Outside the cell surveillance footage showed Hopp, Jalali and another officer gathered around a computer to watch the body-camera footage.
‘Ready for the pop?’ Hopp is heard saying in apparent reference to Garner’s arm coming out of it’s socket.
When the third unnamed officer asks: ‘What popped?’, Hopp nonchalantly replies: ‘I think it was her shoulder.’
‘I can’t believe I threw a 73-year-old on the ground,’ Hopp says.
Jalali quipped: ‘It’s like live TV… Body-cams are my favorite thing to watch, I could watch livestream body-cams all day.’
The third officer suggests creating a TV show dedicated to body-camera footage before telling Hopp of his arrest: ‘Impressive, buddy.’
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
The outcry over how Garner was treated comes amid a national reckoning over use of force by police, including against people with mental and physical health conditions.
A person who answered the phone at the law firm representing Hopp said the office would not comment on the case. Court records did not list a lawyer for Jalali, and a telephone number listed for her did not work.
DailyMail.com exclusively revealed Hopp and Jalali’s relationship last month.
Around the time of the arrest, then-married Hopp moved into Jalali’s new home in Windsor, Colorado where they lived together until mid-February when Hopp suddenly moved out.
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Exclusive pictures obtained by DailyMail.com taken on June 14, 2020, just days after they moved in together, show Hopp and Jalali sitting on the front porch and holding hands.
According to divorce documents, Hopp’s separated from his wife of six years on June 7. She filed for divorce on July 8.
Several neighbors of Jalali’s confirmed to DailyMail.com that Hopp and Jalali had been living together but kept to themselves and weren’t very friendly.
One neighbor said they have been living together at the house since the day they moved in last June.
But another neighbor said their romance was short-lived with Hopp moving out in February.
DailyMail.com exclusively revealed Hopp and Jalali’s relationship last month
