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Colorado city to pay woman with dementia $3M to settle federal lawsuit

LOVELAND, Colo. — A Colorado city has agreed to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit brought by the family of a 73-year-old woman with dementia who was handcuffed and pushed to the ground after she was accused of shoplifting, officials said Wednesday.

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The city of Loveland announced that it will pay a $3 million civil settlement to Karen Garner, who was arrested after she was accused of leaving a Walmart with $13.88 in unpaid merchandise, The Denver Post reported.

Garner suffered a fractured arm and dislocated shoulder in the June 26, 2020, incident at the Loveland store, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald. The lawsuit alleged that Loveland Police Department officers Austin Hopp and Daria Jalali used excessive force when they arrested Garner; Sgt. Phil Metzler was also named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit ended the careers of all three law enforcement officers and prompted a third-party investigation into the police department, the Post reported.

“This settlement brings a measure of justice to the Garner family, but it does not deliver full justice,” the family’s attorney, Sarah Schielke, said during a news conference Wednesday. “Full justice to Karen Garner and this community will happen at the moment that every individual who participated in this atrocity and who fostered the conditions and culture that made its happening possible is held accountable.”

>> Read full lawsuit here

According to the lawsuit, Garner has dementia and sensory aphasia, which impairs her ability to communicate and understand.

“The settlement with Karen Garner will help bring some closure to an unfortunate event in our community but does not upend the work we have left to do. We extend a deep and heartfelt apology to Karen Garner and her family for what they have endured as a result of this arrest,” Loveland City Manager Steve Adams stated in a news release. “We know we did not act in a manner that upholds the values, integrity, and policies of the City and police department, and we are taking the necessary steps to make sure these actions are never repeated.”

The lawsuit alleges that Walmart employees asked Garner to return to the store when they saw her leave without paying and took the items back -- a soda, a candy bar, a T-shirt and wipe refills -- denying her request to pay for the items.

>> Attorney for Colorado woman with dementia files civil rights lawsuit

“We stopped Ms. Garner after noticing her attempt to take merchandise from the store without paying for it,” a Walmart spokesperson told KDVR. “When we addressed this issue directly with her the situation escalated when she forcibly removed an associate’s face mask and fled the store. The police were called only after Ms. Garner became physical with an associate.”

Jalali assisted Hopp with the arrest, according to the lawsuit. Metzler, who later appeared on the scene, approved of the arrest, the lawsuit says, and directed that Garner “be denied access to medical care for her injuries afterward.”

Video showed Hopp, Jalali and Officer Tyler Blackett later laughing about the arrest while watching the body camera footage of the arrest as Garner sat in a nearby cell, the Post reported.

Although the civil lawsuit is settled, Hopp and Jalali still face criminal charges, KDVR reported.

“There is no excuse, under any circumstances, for what happened to Ms. Garner,” Loveland police Chief Bob Ticer said in a news release. “We have agreed on steps we need to take to begin building back trust. While these actions won’t change what Ms. Garner experienced, they will serve to improve this police department and hopefully restore faith that the LPD exists to serve those who live in and visit Loveland.”

In April, the police department announced that Hopp and Jalali were no longer with the force, KCNC reported. Ticer did not say whether the officers resigned or were fired, the television station reported.

The news release from Loveland city officials said the settlement, which comes without admission of liability, “prevents further litigation and is in the best interest of all involved.”

Schielke called on Ticer to resign and said if he resigned or was fired within 30 days, she would personally donate $50,000 to a nonprofit organization focused on dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Reporter-Herald.

“We need change, we need them to change,” Garner’s daughter, Alissa Swartz, told the newspaper.

Ticer said Wednesday he has no intention of resigning.

“I understand the emotion, I understand those demands,” Ticer told the Reporter-Herald. “But my responsibility here is to ensure the investigations (into the Garner incident) that are moving forward are handled professionally.”

The settlement money will need to be approved by a probate court, and should be finalized within two or three months, Schielke said.

Swartz said the money will be used to pay for the 24/7 dementia care that Garner now requires, the Post reported.