The attorney who has filed a lawsuit against three Loveland police officers for their treatment during an arrest of a 73-year-old woman suffering from dementia called for the firing of the supervising sergeant and Loveland Police Chief Robert Ticer in an interview Friday morning with The Denver Gazette.

She said she doesn’t believe needed culture and policy changes within the department to prevent future similar incidents will happen under current leadership.  

“I think they have a big choice right now about whether they want to continue to have something as embarrassing and shameful as this video be at the center of conversation and continuing to pop up on people’s timelines for the next six months to two years,” said Sarah Schielke of the Life & Liberty Law Office. “Or do they want to set what should be the model for responding to an incident like this?” 

Schielke of the Life & Liberty Law Office filed a lawsuit Wednesday naming the city of Loveland and three police officers for using excessive force in arresting Karen Garner last summer after she tried to leave a Walmart forgetting to pay for about $14 worth of goods. According to the lawsuit, Garner suffers from cortical dementia and sensory aphasia, which affect her memory, social skills, thinking abilities and capacity to communicate.  

The lawsuit alleges Officer Austin Hopp forced Garner to the ground, and Officer Daria Jalali helped him subdue her once she arrived at the scene.  

According to the lawsuit, Walmart employees stopped Garner on June 26 when she tried to leave the store not having paid for a few items worth $13.88 total. They took the items and refused Garner’s attempt to give them her credit card, says the complaint.     

Walmart reported the incident to Loveland police, and Hopp found her as she walked the few blocks toward her apartment based on the description the store provided, according to the lawsuit.    

The lawsuit claims Hopp quickly escalated the encounter and tackled Garner after attempting to stop her and she made gestures indicating she could not understand or communicate with him. Hopp put her in a rear wristlock to handcuff her and climbed on top of her while she was on the ground. 

According the lawsuit, Jalali helped Hopp continue to subdue Garner using excessive force after she arrived at the scene. The lawsuit also says a citizen bystander saw the incident and stopped to film it.  

Hopp told the bystander that Garner had stolen from Walmart, refused to stop and listen to his orders and fought him. 

The bystander repeatedly said to Hopp and then Sgt. Philip Metzler once he arrived at the scene that what he saw didn’t line up with what they told him, says the complaint. It blames Metzler for brushing off the bystander’s complaint and for approving of how Hopp and Jalali handled the incident.  

The complaint says the only things Garner was able to say during the encounter were “I’m going home,” “You hurt me” and “I want my credit card.”     

According to the lawsuit, Garner’s children have reported that a preoccupation with her credit card, especially when in a distressed state, has become a hallmark of her dementia and deteriorating mental condition.    

The complaint also says Garner’s behavior the Loveland officers interpreted as illegal activity — such as forgetting to pay for items and not understanding commands — are common signs of the mental deterioration Garner suffers from. 

The lawsuit alleges violations of Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which requires reasonable accommodation during arrest in the form of “reasonable modifications in policies, practices or procedures.” It also claims violations of Garner’s rights to due process and protection against excessive force. 

Garner suffered a dislocated shoulder and other injuries. Schielke said Garner never regained full use of her left arm and requires help with everyday tasks such as getting dressed, putting on makeup and showering. The incident has also made her more withdrawn and fearful, trusting of only a few people, Schielke said. 

“I think it’s just really caused her to be very, more than anything, withdrawn and distrustful,” she said. “And it’s hard with dementia, because already that disease forces a lot of non–consensual — from the person who has it — withdrawal and disengagement from the world.” 

Schielke said an acceptable settlement would need to include a substantial payment to atone for the harm caused to Garner and her family. The LPD would also need to make leadership changes, she said, saying she believes Metzler is the most culpable for the incident. 

Schielke said she hopes better training in the police department about interacting with people who have disabilities and cognitive impairment can help prevent offices from escalating situations as quickly as Hopp did. But she said how the situation unfolded once Metzler got to the scene, from the officers’ cavalier behavior to their failure to call for medical treatment and document the use of force, shows a culture problem that training wouldn’t fix and should prompt “sweeping changes” in LPD leadership. 

“That is such an internal, toxic, from-the-leadership-down type of problem that is not going to be resolved by us saying, let’s have everybody a week-long class,” Schielke said. 

The Loveland Police Department has put Hopp on administrative leave pending an investigation, the LPD said in a statement Thursday, and Jalali and Metzler have been reassigned to administrative duties during the investigation. 

The LPD said in the statement posted to Facebook the incident first came to the department’s attention late Wednesday.    

“LPD takes very seriously the allegations concerning the arrest of resident Karen Garner, and shares with the community the concerns about video images that became public on Wednesday,” says the statement. It says the LPD had not previously received a complaint about Garner’s injuries.  

The LPD has not responded directly to the Denver Gazette’s request for comment. 

The lawsuit says police kept Garner from getting medical care for several hours after the incident, and claims officers deliberately did not photograph her most serious injuries when she was taken to jail. According to the custody report when officers initially took Garner to the Larimer County, the officers did not document that she had any injuries or illnesses.  

According to the lawsuit, she remained in the jail for about six hours before being taken to Poudre Valley Hospital after a deputy realized she had serious injuries.    

At the hospital, she was diagnosed with a fractured humerus, a dislocated shoulder and a sprained wrist. 

Garner said she is prepared to file a lawsuit in state court if the officers claim qualified immunity in the federal case — a principle that limits the ability to sue law enforcement officers in their personal capacity unless they have violated a clearly established constitutional right — since the Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act passed by Colorado’s legislature last June did away with qualified immunity at the state level. 

She said cases in state court also tend to move faster in general, meaning they could access evidence sooner. 

“It would also be symbolic as a statement to the city of Loveland that we’re done being jerked around,” Schielke said, saying she does not want to unnecessarily drag out retraumatization of the case’s victims “while we do this song and dance of, “’Oh, maybe qualified immunity applies; at least while we argue it we’ll burn a year off of this case and maybe people will forget about it.’” 

According to previous reporting by the Loveland Reporter-Herald, Schielke filed another lawsuit against the city of Loveland and four police last year for detaining a man who declined to talk to officers at the scene of an accident in 2019, saying officers violated his constitutional rights. The case settled for $290,000, though the settlement did not include any admission of wrongdoing by the city or police.