A woman suffering from dementia got her arm broken and shoulder dislocated as she was caught shoplifting by two former law enforcement officers in Colorado.
The ex-officers were slammed with felony and assault charges on Wednesday.
The incident from last year with the 73-year-old victim, Karen Garner, surfaced in April following the charges pushed by her family against the Colorado police department, along with the two of its officers involved, as well as against the city of Loveland.
As part of the lawsuit, video footage taken through the police body camera in June last year was publicized in court.
According to Attorney Gordon McLaughlin, Larimer County District Attorney, criminal counts from the arrest were filed against former police officers Daria Jalali and Austin Hopp.
Two felony counts of assault were filed against Hopp, which caused the victim to suffer injuries. The ex-officer was also charged for trying to direct a public official, making him face official misconduct.
Meanwhile, three misdemeanor counts were raised against Jalali for his failure to tell the forceful arrest, or to step into the circumstance.
The two were phoned to the location when the old woman was reported for attempting to take with her unpaid items worth $15 from Walmart, the lawsuit said.
According to the video, Hopp faced Garner, who, at that time, tried to evade authorities. The officer handcuffed her behind her back then pushed the old woman to the ground.
The lawsuit stated that the victim stayed at the police station prior to the provision of medical aid. This, despite that Garner complained about her sustained injuries.
The prosecutions were backed by Loveland Police chief Robert Tier. In a conference with reporters, Tier said that the involved officers are being trained on what to do with the same scenarios, as well as dealing with persons with the same condition as Garner.
Sarah Schielke, Garner’s civil attorney, Sarah Schielke, argued that the charges were “not satisfactory.”
“This is not an excessive force case, it’s torture,” the lawyer said.
