A $3 Million Deal Is Reached In The Rough Arrest Of A 73-Year-Old Woman With Dementia

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This video from the Loveland Police Department body camera footage shows Karen Garner, who has dementia, on the ground while being arrested on June 26, 2020. The city of Loveland announced Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, that it will pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit over her arrest.

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The Violent Arrest Of A Woman With Dementia Highlights The Lack Of Police Training

Hopp has been charged with second-degree assault in the arrest. At a court hearing last month to weigh the evidence against him, his lawyer, Jonathan Datz, argued that Hopp’s supervisors determined his actions to be acceptable, the Loveland Reporter-Herald reported.

A representative from Datz’s office said Wednesday that he declined to comment.

The body camera footage shows that when Hopp has Garner pushed against the hood of his car, she tried to turn around and repeated that she was trying to go home. He then pushed her back against the car and moved her bent left arm up near her head, holding it, saying, «Are you finished? Are you finished? We don’t play this game.

Investigators found that Hopp filed reports to mislead his superiors and protect himself, according to his arrest affidavit. He did not mention Garner’s shoulder injury in an initial report.

In a report filed after being told that she was going to the hospital, he wrote that Garner was asked several times if she wanted medical attention but that she did not answer, according to the affidavit.