Austin Hopp.Photo: AP/Shutterstock
Austin Hopp, formerly of the Loveland Police Department in Colorado, pleaded guilty to a single charge of second-degree assault on Wednesday, local station9Newsreports.
Hopp,who was chargedwith misdemeanor first-degree official misconduct and two felonies, including second-degree assault of an at-risk adult and attempt to influence a public servant, accepted a plea deal that would lessen his sentence from 10-30 years to 2-8 years if the case had gone to trial, perCBS4 Denver.
“Today our office secured a guilty plea to Class 4 Felony Assault for former Loveland officer Austin Hopp related to his arrest of Karen Garner,” Larimer and Jackson County District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin wrote in a tweet on Wednesday.
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“This result brings significant criminal accountability for his assault of Ms. Garner & shows such abuse of power will not be tolerated,” DA McLaughlin added.
“What happened to Ms. Garner was deplorable and a stark reminder that no police officer is above the law, which is why Austin Hopp is no longer associated with our department,” Chief Bob Ticer of the Roswell Police Department told PEOPLE in a statement. “We appreciate the District Attorney’s efforts in pursuing justice for Ms. Garner and her family.”
In May 2021, Garner 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.
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“I can’t get those pictures of my mom being thrown to the ground. Humiliated. Officer Hopp smiling, laughing, giving fist bumps. We want justice and the only way it was going to happen is if he went to court and let a jury decide,” said Garner’s son John Steward, per local news stationFox31.
“This matters to a lot of people beyond our family. For their safety, for the town of Loveland, for the pride of the town they live in, and they were very disappointed today as well,” Garner’s daughter-in-law Shannon Steward told Fox31 of the court’s and Hopp’s decision to accept the plea deal.
Hopp is scheduled to be sentenced on May 5, according to CBS4 Denver.
source: people.com
