FORT COLLINS, Colorado (AP) — A former Colorado state trooper who didn’t stop another officer from verbally abusing a 73-year-old woman with dementia was sentenced Friday to 45 days in prison and three years’ probation. I was handed down.
Dahlia Jalali previously pleaded guilty With the arrest of Karen Garner in Loveland, In 2020, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Denver, she faced up to 60 days in prison for failing to intervene. 2020.
Former cop Austin Hopp arrested Garner after he left the store without paying about $14 worth of merchandise. Police body camera video released last year shows Garner trying to go home It shows that you are repeating
After Garner turned away from him, footage shows Hop grabbing her arm and pushing her to the ground, handcuffing her. Then he moved his bent left arm near her head. Soon after, Garner began to fall toward the ground. Jalali, who arrived after Garner was handcuffed, yelled, “Stand up! We’re not going to hold you back.”
Hopp was sentenced to five years in prison in May. for Garner’s treatment. Loveland settled a lawsuit filed by Garner for his $3 million. Her family said her condition deteriorated after her arrest and required round-the-clock care.
Jalali apologized to Garner and her family in court. The Loveland Reporter-Herald reportedShe told Judge Joshua Lehman that she thought Garner was drunk and believed Garner was just complaining about the handcuffs.
“I wanted to be a good police officer. My heart was in the right place, but it just wasn’t good enough,” she said.
Jalali’s attorney, Anna Geigl, said Loveland Police and another department allowed her to continue working despite the pattern of poor performance documented in her personnel file. After her neuropsychological evaluation, she said Jalali did not have the “psychological preparation” to act with the precision and awareness expected of a police officer.
Lehman said Jalali should have known Garner was a “sensitive” woman struggling with mental health issues.
After seeing body camera footage of the arrest for the first time in court, he said, “She just listened to it and it horrified me.” The fact that I couldn’t do it is incomprehensible to me.”
Garner’s son, John Steward, told the judge that Jalali had no idea of the stress, pain and grief the arrest had brought to his family.
“We all have choices in life, and every choice has consequences,” he said. “I ask that justice be done for my mother today.”