A former Colorado police officer has been sentenced to prison for laughing after a colleague broke his arm during a rowdy speech by a 73-year-old woman with dementia.
Dahlia Jalali was sentenced Friday to 45 days in prison and she to three years probation for failing to intervene in the arrest of Karen Garner in Loveland, about 50 miles north of Denver. was done. Reported by pressing. She will also be required to do 250 hours of community service and will be barred from pursuing a law enforcement career in the future. Suffered a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder and a sprained wrist while detained by Officer Austin Hopp,Court Records Reviewed by The Independent Show. Garner left the Walmart store without buying about $14 worth of merchandise.
Jalali had previously pleaded guilty. She faces up to 60 days in prison for failing to intervene in a crime crafted by lawmakers as part of a police reform bill passed during protests over racial injustice and police brutality in 2020. I was facing
Hopp was sentenced to five years in prison for the treatment of Ms. Garner, who settled her $3 million lawsuit with the City of Loveland in May. Her family said her condition worsened after her arrest, and as a result she needed around-the-clock care for her, the Associated Press reported.
"[She] made the wrong choice that day and there were plenty of opportunities to stop this and do the right thing," Ms. Garner's son, John Steward, said at the sentencing hearing. Reported by CPR .
"I hope this gives [Jalali] time to reflect on her actions and how her actions have impacted her mother and her health."
30} A police bodycam video released last year and shared byGarner family attorney Sarah Schierke, repeatedly says Mr. Garner was trying to go home during his arrest. indicates thatAfter Ms. Garner turns her back on Hopp, footage shows him grabbing her arm and pushing her to the ground, handcuffing her.
He then pushed her against the hood of her car and moved her bent left arm near her head after she tried to turn her around. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Garner began to fall toward the ground. Jalali, who arrived after Ms. Garner was handcuffed, said, "Stand up! We are not going to detain you."
Jalali apologized to Ms. Garner and her family in court. , reported Loveland Reporter-Herald. She told Judge Joshua Lehman that she thought Garner was drunk and believed that Mr. Garner was just complaining about the handcuffs. I wanted to be an officer. My heart was in the right place, but it wasn't good enough," she said.
Garner, who suffers from dementia and aphasia, suffered a broken and dislocated arm and a sprained wrist and was detained by former police officer Austin Hopp
(Sarah Schielke's office)
Jalali's attorney, Anna Geigle, said Loveland Police and another department would allow her to continue working. I said I did. her personnel file. A neuropsychological evaluation showed that Jalali did not have the "psychological makeup" to act with the precision and awareness expected of a police officer, she said. When she was actually underperforming, she was given a pass and brought forward from this division many times,' said Ms Geigl, according to CPR.
Judge Lehman said Jalali should have known Garner was a "sensitive" woman with mental health problems.
After seeing body camera footage of her arrest for the first time in her court, he said, "I couldn't hear her, and it was terrifying to me." "The fact that two law enforcement officers couldn't figure it out is incomprehensible to me."
"The video really makes my stomach tingle," said Judge Lehman. rice field. "This was a grave failure in your duty to protect and serve."
