Nationwide — Karen Garner, a 73-year old woman with dementia from Loveland, Colorado, has been awarded a $3 million settlement a year after local police officers brutally arrested her for allegedly leaving a Walmart without paying for her $13 bill.
Two police officers, Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali, reportedly tackled the elderly woman to the ground and pinned her during an arrest, causing her injuries such as dislocated shoulder, broken arm, and bruises.
Police officers, including the Hopp and Jalali, were then caught on video laughing as they watched the body-camera footage of the arrest, mocking Garner as she sat in a jail cell without medical care for nearly six hours.
Garner’s family filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Loveland and its officers, claiming the police department violated her civil rights. The family chose to agree with the settlement, which will end the pending lawsuit since Garner’s health has been declining.
Still, her family hopes the officers involved would go to jail and changes would be made within the police force.
“There needs to be some change in this department,” Garner’s daughter Allisa Swartz told CBS News. “I don’t want to see this happen to anyone else’s families, again, I don’t want to see it.”
Moreover, Hopp and Jalali, who were charged only after the body-camera footage went viral, will still face criminal charges in connection to the violent arrest despite the settlement.