Police Sued After Arrest Of Elderly Woman With Dementia Left Her With Broken Arm And Dislocated Shoulder

The arrest of a mentally ill 73-year-old woman last summer has ended in a lawsuit.

Karen Garner, who suffers from dementia, was arrested after failing to pay for $14 worth of goods from a Wal-Mart. After returning to the counter and paying for them, she was arrested anyway.

The arrest was brutal.

The officers involved broke her arm and dislocated her shoulder in the process.

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And now, the Loveland police will face a lawsuit from Garner and her attorney.

Garner was stopped by one of the officers as she walked home. After signaling she did not understand what he was saying, the officer then "violently assaulted her, twisting her arms behind her back, throwing her to the ground and handcuffing her."

After her arrest, another officer then "denied [Garner] access to medical care for her injuries afterward."

When she arrived at Larimer County Jail in Fort Collins, jail deputies were not given any explanation as to why Garner had "complained of pain, been involved in a severe use-of-force incident, was obviously mentally ill, and clearly needed medical evaluation before being further isolated in a cell."

Despite this arrest happening over a year ago, Loveland Police Department spokesperson Tom Hacker said the department only learned about the excessive-force arrest on Wednesday, April 14, via a Facebook post.

As the idea of reforming, defunding or abolishing police gains momentum, law enforcement seems to keep giving more and more examples of why it needs to happen.