Headlines — May 6, 2022

Headlines for May 6, 2022

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Ex-Loveland Officer Receives 5-Year Prison Sentence For Violent Arrest Of Woman With Dementia

A Larimer County District Court judge sentenced former Loveland police officer Austin Hopp to five years in prison Thursday. In 2020, Hopp violently arrested a 73-year-old woman with dementia. The Judge also added three years of parole.

Hopp pleaded guilty in March to second-degree assault in connection with his arrest of Karen Garner, who attempted to leave a Walmart without paying $14 worth of items which she returned before walking home.

After the store’s security called 911, Hopp located Garner walking home and ordered her to stop. Body camera footage showed Hopp taking the petite woman to the ground within 30 seconds of confronting her. Hopp also pushed Garner against his police vehicle and bent her arm as she attempted to turn around. Because of the assault, Garner suffered a dislocated shoulder, broken humerus, and sprained wrist.

Garner’s children say their mother has also suffered post-traumatic stress disorder along with her health quickly deteriorating after the arrest.

According to The Denver Post, Hopp apologized to Garner, her family, the Loveland community, and the police profession during Thursday’s sentencing, speaking publicly about the assault for the first time. Another officer who came to the scene is also facing criminal charges.

Denver Data Broker Stops Selling Data From Phones Of People Visiting Abortion Clinics

The Denver-based data broker, Safegraph, has stopped selling data gathered from the smartphones of people who visit abortion clinics.
The company announced the halt on its website earlier in the week following a Vice article highlighting the potential misuse and harm of the data gathered by the company.

According to Vice, vigilantes who obtain the data could potentially harass or target people seeking and providing abortions, especially in the wake of the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Safegraph says its data it aggregates and anonymizes its data, which includes information on where businesses are located, operating hours, who visits and where those people originate. It also tracks how often a person visits places and what other places they go.

According to Vice, researchers have repeatedly warned about the possibilities of unmasking individuals contained in so-called anonymized datasets.
The company website says it is removing the “patterns data” for locations classified as family planning centers to curtail any potential misuse but says it will still provide information on locations and operating hours.

Army And Boulder County Bomb Squad Safely Remove And Identify Military Device Left At Hazardous Materials Management Facility

Boulder police called in an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit Wednesday after discovering an item left at the Boulder County Hazardous Materials Management Facility appeared to be a military device.

Although the item was labeled inert, officials could not assume the device was safe for any further handling.

According to the Daily Camera, officials identified the item as submunition, which is a small weapon or device that is part of a larger warhead projectile that separates prior to impact.

The Boulder County Regional Bomb Squad and the U.S. Army removed the item from the facility, which reopened Thursday afternoon.

Boulder Housing Agency To Redevelop GSA Property For Affordable Units

Boulder Housing Partners announced earlier in the week it has purchased a 4.35-acre site, previously owned by the Geological Society of America.

The site, near Foothills Highway and 34th Street, includes the 52-year-old GSA building with notable architectural features of the modern Brutalist style.

Starting in 2025, the agency says its plans to redevelop the site into a 115-unit affordable apartment community with green space between new apartments and the former GSA building.

The agency also says it plans to seek local landmark designation for the original part of the building and retrofit the 10,000 square feet of commercial office space into affordable units and community amenities.

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