FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — A Triad detention officer returned to work Wednesday, months after getting attacked by an inmate.
The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office says Matthew West attacked two jail officers in August. Now, one of them is back.
The officer was sent to a hospital for a brain bleed and dislocated shoulder.
The sheriff's office says he still has not fully recovered. West was in jail on a murder charge.
West is also facing two counts of assault on a detention officer.
The other jail officer, a 61-year-old woman, suffered a fractured orbital bone and needed stitches for a cut near her eye.
“It is a sad day when you take it upon yourself to beat a 61-year-old woman regardless if she is an officer," Sheriff Kimbrough said.
Sheriff Kimbrough said it is instances like these that make it hard to fill the 81 openings at the detention center.
"It does impact how and what will attract people to come work in this profession because of the hazards of that profession," Kimbrough said.
Sheriff Kimbrough released a statement, saying in part, "Our officers used appropriate use of force techniques learned through training to gain control of the combative resident...with the use of force, it is standard procedure for us to send the resident to the hospital to be evaluated for injuries.
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