Ex-cop gets jail time after she didn't intervene when another officer violently arrested an elderly woman with dementia
Loveland Police Department via AP
- A former cop got jail time after she did not intervene when another officer violently arrested an elderly woman with dementia.
- Daria Jalali was sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years of probation.
- During her sentencing, Jalali said she "wanted to be a good police officer" but "came up short."
A former Colorado police officer received jail time after she did not intervene when another officer violently arrested an elderly woman with dementia.
Daria Jalali, formerly of the Loveland Police Department, was sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years on probation after she did not intervene in the 2020 arrest of Karen Garner, a 73-year-old woman with dementia who left a Walmart with stolen items valuing $14, The Associated Press reported.
During Garner's arrest, former officer Austin Hopp grabbed Garner by the arm, pushed her to the ground to handcuff her, and pushed her against his car, The AP reported.
Jalali arrived after Garner was handcuffed and told her, "Stand up! We're not going to hold you," as Garner slumped toward the ground, according to The AP.
"I wanted to be a good police officer and my heart was in the right place, but I still came up short," Jalali said when she was sentenced on Friday, per the AP.
Garner's arm was broken and her shoulder was dislocated during the encounter, Insider previously reported. In September, the city of Loveland settled with the Garner family for $3 million, which the family said they would use for her medical care. Hopp was sentenced to five years in prison in May.
"We all have choices to make in life, and all our choices have consequences," Garner's son, John Stweard, said during Friday's sentencing. "I ask that justice be served for my mom today."