DENVER (AP) — A Colorado city has agreed to pay $3 million to a 73-year-old woman with dementia who was roughly arrested by police last year, officials announced Wednesday.
An officer arrested Karen Garner after she left a store without paying for about $14 worth of items in June 2020. Police body camera footage shows that after she turned away from him, the officer grabbed her arm and pushed her to the ground. Garner’s federal lawsuit claimed he dislocated her shoulder by shoving her handcuffed left arm forward onto the hood of a patrol car.
The arresting officer and another who arrived later have both been charged with crimes.
Loveland City Manager Steve Adams apologized to Garner and her family in the announcement of the proposed settlement, which was confirmed by Garner’s lawyer, Sarah Schielke.
“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,” he said.
Garner’s lawyer and her family plans to hold a press conference to talk about the settlement at 11 a.m. MDT.
