The Sunday Mail
Two former police officers are facing criminal charges in Colorado (US) stemming from the violent June 26, 2020 arrest of a 73-year-old woman who suffers from dementia.
Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali both resigned on April 30 after body camera footage surfaced showing the forceful detention of Karen Garner last summer. Garner has filed a civil complaint against Hopp, Jalali and a third officer, claiming they violated her rights during the arrest.
The complaint further claims that Garner sustained contusions and a bloody nose, and that the officers dislocated and fractured her shoulder as they twisted her into submission.
In addition, surveillance footage from inside the Loveland police station seems to show Hopp, Jalali and former community service officer Tyler Blackett — who is also named in the complaint — reviewing and commenting on Hopp’s body cam footage.
Hopp on Wednesday was charged with two felonies: second-degree assault of an at-risk adult and attempt to influence a public servant.
According to the latter charge, Hopp allegedly failed to report the seriousness of Garner’s injuries to his superiors.
Hopp was also charged with misdemeanour first-degree official misconduct.
Jalali was charged with failure to report excessive use of force, failure to intervene in the use of excessive force and first-degree official misconduct — all misdemeanours.
Blackett, who also resigned April 30, was not charged.
Garner was detained by Loveland Police after store employees saw her walking out of a Walmart with US$13 worth of items she had not paid for. The first officer who arrived on scene allegedly grabbed Garner as she was walking away from him.
As she was wrestled to the ground, Garner said, “I am going home” — a phrase she repeated 38 times during her detention.
With Garner handcuffed to a bench in a jail cell 10 feet away from them, the three officers watched Hopp’s body camera video back at the station house.
They allegedly were “joking about the excessive force” and laughing about injuring her, according to the complaint.
The surveillance footage allegedly also shows them watching film of themselves intimidating a private citizen who stopped to complain while witnessing the arrest — and then allegedly “fist-bumping” to celebrate that they had done so, states the complaint.
At one point, Hopp allegedly prepares the other two officers watching for the moment Garner’s shoulder’s dislocated, saying, “Ready for the pop? Here comes the pop.”
As Jalali covers her eyes, upset by the footage, she repeats, “I hate it.”
Hopp allegedly replies, “I love it.”
Garner remained in the cell, her injuries untreated, for six hours, the complaint alleges.
The criminal charges against Garner have been dismissed.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Loveland police chief Bob Ticer said he “fully” supports the charges “brought against these two individuals regarding their interactions with Ms Garner. We understand the desire for accountability and justice and we are seeing that today for Ms Garner with the charges being filed.”
Ticer’s statement adds: “…We understand the severity of this incident and as such I have requested, in addition to the criminal proceedings, an independent, third-party internal affairs investigation overseen by the City’s Human Resources Department. That investigation will begin immediately.”
Railway conductor
pinned to death
A railway worker died on May 19 after he was pinned between two rail cars in Newington, New Hampshire, US.
The victim — identified as 61-year-old Dale Jenkins — was working as a Pan Am conductor at a plant for SubCom, an undersea fiberoptic cable company, when the accident occurred, police told the New Hampshire Union Leader.
Officers responded to the plant around 2.20pm after reports of the accident to find Jenkins “pinned between two knuckles of the rail cars,” Newington police chief Michael D. Bilodeau told the newspaper.
Jenkins was still conscious and breathing when authorities arrived.
He spoke with officers and firefighters who responded, and he complained of hip and abdominal pain, according to Bilodeau.
He was transported to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries, the Union Leader reports. Police said they are not sure how Jenkins became stuck between the rail cars, and he was not able to articulate to officers exactly what had happened. Investigators from the National Board of Transportation Safety are expected to evaluate the situation, a spokesperson for the agency told PEOPLE (magazine).
“Investigators will begin examining the equipment involved, documenting the scene and possibly begin interviewing folks who may be able to provide any insight as to what may happen,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.
The Newington Police Department and SubCom did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment. — Wires
