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Lawyer: New video shows Loveland police knew woman with dementia was injured during arrest

Two more officers have been added as defendants in a lawsuit against the Loveland Police Department for their use of force while arresting an elderly woman with dementia.

According to an amended complaint filed Sunday, the additional defendants knew about the woman’s injuries and were “personally complicit in the continued denial of … care.”

Loveland police arrested Karen Garner, then 73, last summer after she left a Walmart, forgetting to pay for about $14 worth of goods.

According to a federal lawsuit filed on her behalf filed earlier this month, Garner suffers from cognitive decline that affects her memory, social skills, thinking abilities and capacity to communicate.

The lawsuit alleges Loveland officer Austin Hopp forced Garner to the ground, and officer Daria Jalali helped subdue her.

The lawsuit also blames Sgt. Philip Metzler for allegedly brushing off a bystander’s complaint and for approving of how Hopp and Jalali handled the incident.

The suit alleges Garner did not receive medical treatment for about six hours after her arrest, when she was taken to Poudre Valley Hospital after a deputy in the Larimer County Jail realized she had serious injuries.

At the hospital, she was diagnosed with a fractured bone in her arm, a dislocated shoulder and a sprained wrist.

The initial lawsuit filed also names the City of Loveland as a defendant. The new filing amends the complaint to add Loveland officer Tyler Blackett as a defendant, claiming Blackett aided Hopp and Jalali, and mocked the woman.

The amended complaint also names Loveland police Sgt. Antolina Hill, who the complaint says is a supervisor of Hopp, Jalali and Blackett. According to the complaint, Hill ignored Garner’s complaints of injuries.

The complaint says Hopp told other officers he heard the “pop” of Garner’s shoulder breaking and dislocating when he pushed Garner against his vehicle to subdue her.

After filing the initial complaint, the attorney representing Garner and her family, Sarah Schielke, distributed camera footage of the incident.

The new allegations came a week after the Eighth Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced a criminal investigation into officers’ treatment of Garner.

In a statement provided through Schielke on Tuesday, her family said “[their] hearts could not possibly ache any more,” adding that police treated the woman who is their mother and grandmother “like an animal.”

“They reveled in her pain and did nothing to address it. They relished in stripping her of all dignity,” says the statement. “Once fiercely independent, happy, carefree and a great lover of the outdoors, she is now fearful, distrusting, reclusive.”

Schielke said in the statement Garner’s family wants to see the five officers named in the lawsuit fired and criminally charged, and city leadership who “fostered this culture of abuse removed.”

“Enough investigating. The police have

known about this for 10 months and the videos speak for themselves,” Schielke said in the statement.

After the suit was filed, the Loveland Police Department announced mandatory training for officers o n how to interact with those suffering Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia.

In a statement on Facebook, the department claimed leaders know nothing about the incident until the suit was filed.

The department has said it placed Hopp on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. Jalali and Metzler were placed on desk duty during the investigation.

Garner’s attorney said her client didn’t file a complaint with the Loveland Police Department because of distrust that it would be properly addressed.

Schielke has called for the firing of Metzler and Chief Robert Ticer to address what she has characterized as systemic cultural failings in the department.

This story has been updated with additional statements from Karen Garner’s family and attorney Sarah Schielke.

In this undated photo provided by Allisa Swartz, is Karen Garner, who is suing Loveland, Colorado and three of its police officers over her arrest in June 2020. According to her federal lawsuit, she suffers from dementia and was arrested after leaving a Walmart without paying for about $14 in items. Police body camera video shows an officer reaching for one of her arms, putting her on the ground and handcuffing her after she started to walk away from him. The officer has been placed on leave pending an investigation. (Allisa Swartz via AP) (HONS)
In this undated photo provided by Allisa Swartz, is Karen Garner, who is suing Loveland, Colorado and three of its police officers over her arrest in June 2020. According to her federal lawsuit, she suffers from dementia and was arrested after leaving a Walmart without paying for about $14 in items. Police body camera video shows an officer reaching for one of her arms, putting her on the ground and handcuffing her after she started to walk away from him. The officer has been placed on leave pending an investigation. (Allisa Swartz via AP) (HONS)
This undated photo shows Karen Garner, who was injured by Loveland police officers in June 2020 when they arrested her. Garner suffered a dislocated shoulder among other injuries, and suffers from cognitive decline that has prevented her from fully understanding what happened, according to her family's attorney. (Courtesy of Sarah Schielke)
This undated photo shows Karen Garner, who was injured by Loveland police officers in June 2020 when they arrested her. Garner suffered a dislocated shoulder among other injuries, and suffers from cognitive decline that has prevented her from fully understanding what happened, according to her family’s attorney. (Courtesy of Sarah Schielke)


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