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Three Colorado Cops Resign Over Rough Arrest of 73-Year-Old Woman With Dementia

Security footage showed them watching bodycam video of the arrest and laughing, with one asking “Ready for the pop?”

Three Loveland, Colorado, police officers have resigned after recently released bodycam footage ignited outrage over their June 2020 arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia. Two of the officers, Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali, detained Karen Garner along the side of the road for walking out of a Walmart with $14 worth of merchandise without paying, though she later returned the items. The arrest left her with a dislocated shoulder and severe bruising. Garner has filed a federal civil rights suit against the officers and their department, alleging they ignored her pleas for medical care while she was in police custody. Security footage released by Garner’s lawyer shows the two officers along with Community Services Officer Tyler Blackett laughing at Garner’s arrest, with Hopp asking, “Ready for the pop?” in apparent reference to the septuagenerian’s shoulder. Loveland Police Chief Robert Ticer said during a press conference Friday, “Our goal at the Loveland Police Department has always been to make our community proud. We failed, and we are very sorry for that.”