Posted on 08/06/2022 11:00:37 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Another former Loveland police officer will spend time behind bars for her role in the violent arrest of a 73-year-old woman with dementia.
Daria Jalali was sentenced to 45 days in jail by a Larimer County judge on Friday after pleading guilty to failing to intervene in the use of excessive force in June. She will serve an additional three years of parole following her release. The sentencing is the latest development in the legal saga stemming from the 2020 arrest of Karen Garner, which was captured on body-worn camera and widely circulated online.
“(Jalali) made poor choices that day and had numerous opportunities to stop this and do the right thing,” said John Steward, Garner’s son, during Friday’s sentencing hearing. “I believe this will give her the time to reflect on her actions and how her actions affected my mom and her wellbeing.”
Jalali helped another Loveland officer, Austin Hopp, restrain Garner as the 73-year-old walked home from a local Walmart. Employees at the store had reported her for taking several small items without paying, including a tshirt, candy and a Pepsi.
As Hopp pushed Garner against the hood of his patrol car, Jalali arrived to assist him. Body camera footage shows Jalali pressing her hands on Garner to control her, yelling “quit!” as the 73-year-old struggled to free herself.
“Stand up, we’re not going to hold you,” Jalali said after Garner fell to the ground.
Jalali later helped carry Garner from the patrol car to a holding cell as Garner yelled “ow” repeatedly.
The arrest left Garner with a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm and bruises. Garner was living independently at the time of the arrest, but now lives in a memory care facility.
Last September, the city settled a federal lawsuit brought by Garner’s family for $3 million, and in May, Hopp was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, attorneys for Garner’s family replayed video footage of Jalali assisting in her arrest. Family members grew emotional as they testified about the lasting impacts of the arrest on Garner.
“My mom changed that day,” Steward, her son, said. “She has, since that time, developed PTSD. The trauma, in my opinion, made her (dementia) progress even faster.”
Attorneys for Jalali argued that, for years, she received improper training from superiors at the Loveland Police Department. Jalali failed multiple tests throughout her employment, including ones for defensive control techniques that officers learn for both their safety and the safety of others during arrests.
“She was given passes and she was pressed forward repeatedly by this department when she was falling below really where she should have been with the standards,” said Anna Geigle, her attorney.
Jalali also apologized to Garner and her family during Friday’s sentencing. In her testimony, she told the judge that she was unaware the 73-year-old was suffering from dementia when she arrived at the scene mid-arrest.
“I should have confronted officer Hopp about it immediately to ask what was going on to cause her the apparent pain and distress,” Jalali said.
Once Garner was in a police vehicle, Jalali began asking her for identification and whether she needed medical assistance, she recalled.
“But (Garner) did not respond to me,” Jalali said. “I kept asking, but I did not know that her lack of response was for any reason other than being uncooperative.”
Judge Joshua Lehman, in response to Jalali’s testimony, acknowledged the complexities of the situation, but said it was “incomprehensible” that she and Hopp didn't recognize Garner’s fragile mental and physical state and stop the arrest.
“The video really does make your stomach clench,” Lehman said. “This was an abysmal failure of your duty to protect and serve.”
As a part of her sentencing, Jalali will perform 250 hours of community service. She will also be banned from pursuing future employment in law enforcement in any state.
Sarah Schielke, the attorney representing Garner’s family, said that the case is an example of a broader problem in police departments across the country.
“The rest of the cops in our communities turning a blind eye to their own fellow officers’ misconduct better learn something from this,” she said. “Because if they don’t, I’ll be coming for them next.”
“She was given passes and she was pressed forward repeatedly by this department when she was falling below really where she should have been with the standards,” said Anna Geigle, her attorney.
Wow! The “I’m an affirmative action hire” defense? That’s right up there with the twinkie defense.
She does in other photos, and she’s obviously a small, thin and not very strong woman. She was no threat to the police or anyone else and she certainly didn’t deserve to come out of this with a dislocated shoulder and a broken arm.
I watched the video and the entire ordeal was sickening. An officer with any compassion could have seen she was in a confused state while walking home and there was no need for confrontation. If anything, an officer should have walked with her till she got home then take it from there.
And my second question is "given Wal Mart's despicable history regarding minor incidents like this why hasn't someone sued them for billions over their "take no prisoners" policy?"
Glad her family got her into memory care. She should have been there earlier. It’s a tough situation.
It’s hard to quantify, true, but my mom’s mental faculties have been slowing down and after several stints of being in the ER and hospital and rehab recently she seems to have deteriorated more mentally. I can’t totally discount what her family is saying even though it can’t be proven.
So what's the excuse for Austin Hopp, the other officer involved? Was he a minority hire too?
Finally, some justice. If the elderly woman had been a member of a victim group the incident would have been all over the news 24/7 and the cops would have been guilty of 10 crimes and spent the rest of their lives in jail.
The life of an old White woman with dementia matters.
Yeaaaah ... I’m not totally on board with Trump’s stalwart support of all law enforcement. Just like I’m not on board with Hannity decreeing that 99% of the FBI are decent and honorable.
Sometimes w just have to think for ourselves.
Like a few cops I have known, he was probably just a sociopath, or developed sociopathic behaviors after years of constantly dealing with criminals and mentally ill people, along with police training and culture that dehumanizes the very people they are sworn to protect.
Cops like these villains are the reason why other cops are being targeted and killed. Bad apples. The male cop will hopefully get raped and killed in prison.
“The male cop will hopefully get raped and killed in prison.”
Otherwise I agree with what you said. And I’ll add that one of the biggest myths in American society is that cops treat white people well. They don’t treat whites any better than anyone else, and today we might be treated worse, tbh.
But, I state for the permanent record that I do not agree at all with your statement quoted above.
I reject out of hand the entire concept that people will be imprisoned, be brutalized by their fellow inmates, and that’s a good thing, or justice, or even rough justice.
If you want the penalty to be death, work to make it so. We can never countenance the idea of rape as a punishment for men or women, or even the gosh darn trannies.
Sorry to go on a rant, and really no offense taken by me over what you said beyond my disagreement stated here. But there’s a lot of loose language around lately. And as it says right now, in red, while I post this: loose lips sink ships.
We can agree to disagree. The reason I would like to see that bad cop suffer, is that he inflicted pain and duress on an elderly woman under color of authority. That makes it worse than if any other perp did assault and battery on an old woman.
I was knocked around by bad cops as a teen, and complaints to a desk sergeant by my dad went unresolved. I've seen others get abused by cops on the street. I have relatives in law enforcement, and sadly one used to tell stories of them wrongly assaulting innocents. A brother-in-law quit SFPD because he hated seeing the abusive behavior of cops. Another brother-in-law couldn't wait to get off patrol duty and switched to motorcycle duty. I also worked as a civilian for the police department on and off for over two decades and worked with many pleasant cops, most of which are good people. But the bad ones irk me. As a senior in my 70's now, I would hate to see my wife go through what happened to that woman, and would want to see that cop get brutal justice in prison.
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