The city said in its statement that it had “received an abundance of phone calls, emails and social media messages from constituents deeply concerned about the events” quoted in the lawsuit and the video footage.
“The footage is difficult to see and we understand the strong emotions it evokes, including outrage, fear and suspicion,” the city said.
Justine Bruno, a city spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that the city’s investigation would begin once the prosecutor’s investigation was over.
The Loveland Police Department said last week that it had received no complaint about Ms. Garner’s “serious injuries” and that it only learned of the allegations related to her arrest after her attorney Sarah Schielke filed the lawsuit and footage from The Walmart Security Agency released cameras and from the officers’ body cameras.
The department said it will review the images, documents and recordings created in connection with the arrest and “share the community’s concerns about the footage with the community.” It was said to have taken the arrest officer in the case, Austin Hopp, on administrative leave, and the assistant, Daria Jalali, and her supervisor, Sgt. Philip Metzler, at their desk.
The three officers and the city of Loveland were named as defendants in the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Colorado District. It alleges violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, alleging excessive violence and failure to provide medical care.
Lawyers for the defendants could not be found immediately.
In the lawsuit, Ms. Garner is described as “suffering from dementia, disorientation and sensory aphasia” or as impaired understanding of spoken or written language. The case shows the importance of training law enforcement officers to interact with people with “intellectual disabilities,” as Ms. Garner was described in the lawsuit.
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