'He was trying to kill me:' Hennepin County deputy returns to work at jail after 'brutal' assault by inmate

Matthew Durette doesn't remember all of the attack — he was slipping in and out of consciousness — but one memory remains clear.

"He was trying to kill me," Durette, 33, recalled recently of the brutal beating he endured from an inmate at the Hennepin County jail in November 2023. "Maybe he didn't want to kill me specifically, but he wanted to kill someone wearing a badge."

Just across the street from the jail in the county government center, Gregory Jorge Garcia, 24, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the attack. It lasted 2 minutes, but left Durette with lifelong injuries.

"There was so much blood; people thought I'd been stabbed," Durette said.

Garcia not only hit Durette in the face 36 times in those 2 minutes, he choked him repeatedly, causing the deputy to repeatedly black out. Durette's nose was broken in three places; he had a traumatic brain injury and injuries to his head, neck, back and hip.

He needed nine months and several surgeries to recover.

"I don't think I've ever seen an assault that brutal," said Sgt. Diane Nelson, a 29-year veteran of the county Sheriff's Office who worked on the case and is now an investigator in the major crimes division.

'There was zero warning'

On the day of the attack, Durette was assigned to transport inmates through underground tunnels between their court appearances in the government center and their cells in the public safety building or in Minneapolis City Hall.

Garcia was in custody on an assault charge. During the roughly 8-minute walk from court back to the Hopkins man's cell in a segregation unit, Durette said, he was "cordial," "compliant" and "downright decent."

Considering that demeanor, Durette decided to uncuff Garcia at the door to his cell, rather than make him crouch down and maneuver his hands, which were behind his back, through the food slot. It's a call Sheriff's Office officials say was entirely within the deputy's discretion.

"There was zero pre-attack indication from him; there was zero warning," Durette said.

Just as Garcia's handcuffs were unlocked, he swung at Durette with his left hand, striking his nose and face. Durette was hit several more times before losing consciousness. He then was in and out of consciousness as Garcia hit and choked him.

Durette said he tried to get to his feet but slipped in his own blood. To protect himself, he got into the best defensive posture he could.

"I realized at some point my radio had flown off my belt. It kind of registered: I can't call for anyone," he said. "I started yelling, 'Code one,' our radio call for a deputy fighting an inmate."

Another inmate Durette was transporting, who was secured just outside Garcia's unit, saw the attack and called for aid.

"It's my belief that inmate very likely saved the deputy's life," Nelson said.

'I'm walking out'

After other jail deputies were able to stop the attack, Durette was taken to a nearby control room, where they tried to figure out the best way to get him out of the jail — possibly in a wheelchair, or even pushing him on a desk chair.

"I just remember saying, 'No, I'm walking out,' and started going down the hallway," Durette said. Soon he was "pinballing against the walls," and two deputies had to pick him up in a "buddy carry."

In the sallyport, a Minneapolis SWAT medic tore off Durette's uniform, looking for other wounds. Durette doesn't remember the ambulance ride to HCMC.

Garcia was initially charged with first-, third- and fourth-degree assault, offenses that carry a tougher penalty when a police or corrections officer is the victim.

After repeatedly watching surveillance video of the attack and interviewing Durette in the hospital, Nelson said, investigators requested an attempted murder charge be added. They said it was merited because of the severity of Durette's injuries and the way Garcia choked him.

Attempted murder was the only charge on which Garcia was acquitted.

Durette said he was disappointed by that decision. He said the more severe charge was important to "send a message that this cannot be tolerated."

Getting back to work

Durette returned to his job at the jail last fall and is in the process of earning his peace officer license so he can become a patrol deputy.

While the attack left him with lifelong injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder, Durette said he never doubted he would get back to work. The Army veteran, who saw combat in Afghanistan as a cavalry scout, comes from a family of police officers, a social worker and a teacher.

"My life has been defined by one word: service," Durette said in his victim impact statement at Garcia's sentencing.

Durette said he knows some people who hear his story will say he understood the risks of the job. Increasingly, inmates held at the jail are there for violent felonies, so fights among prisoners and attacks on guards are not uncommon.

But no one goes to work expecting to be assaulted.

"It's not part of the job," Durette said. "We get into this field because we want to serve the community.

"It's a reality of the job, but it's not part of the job and shouldn't be considered part of the job."