Jason Inman is a detention officer with Denton County and has months of rehab ahead of him. The get-well cards are starting to pile up in the living room. Surprisingly enough he cannot read the cards that are meant for him right now.
Inman, a 14-year detention officer veteran, suffered the loss of an eye, a lacerated forehead, and a broken nose, during an attempt to catch an inmate who had escaped.
“How do I feel now?” he asked himself. “I wanna get better and go back to work,” Inman laughed.
Last week, Inman volunteered to come in to escort an inmate to Texas Health Presbyterian in Denton. That inmate, police identified him as Mathew Harmon, pushed the detention officer and ran off.
“I did my job that day. When he bolted from me, I chased after him,” Inman said while sitting on a large chair in the living room.
During a half-minute foot chase, Inman tripped in the hospital hallway and fell. “I knew Jason was bad when he was being CareFlited,” said his mother Diana Inman.
His fall would result in a badly swollen face. His family tells WFAA that he needed three surgeries. “As long as he’s with us, that’s what’s important,” said his father Dennis.
Harmon, the inmate, was first arrested on a drug charge. He was caught at the hospital and held down by nurses. Surprisingly after falling and sustaining the injuries, Inman got back up to attempt to continue chasing Harmon.
Jason Inman tells WFAA he has worked with the Denton County Jail for 14 years. He’s done hospital duty hundreds of times and, for him, before last week not once has an inmate tried to escape.
Harmon is now being held on a $1 million bond and also has been charged with escape causing serious bodily injury, which is a first-degree felony.
Rehab will be a long road. The estimate from doctors is that it may take six months before Inman can return to work. His parents have already had a long week.
“That’s all God’s work. Every day he was better and better and better,” cried Diana.
Jason Inman is living proof that the danger to law enforcement should never be understated.
The Denton County Law Enforcement Association has created a page where people can donate to help Inman and the family. The family tells WFAA that Jason needs more surgeries in the future.