FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Fulton County jail deputy who lost part of her ear while being attacked by an inmate last month says she is confident that she will return to work this year.

Brooklyn Unitas, 25, a detention officer who works in the jail’s mental health unit, has been recovering since the April 7 attack left her with a broken elbow and missing a piece of her ear.

“I just remember being on the ground and then feeling a sharp, biting pain on my face,” said Unitas, less than 24 hours after doctors removed her cast. “And the crazy thing is he stopped and then he said, ‘How do you like that?’ And then he kept going biting my ear.”

Unitas said that she is still trying to process what happened. She says she was handing out meals to inmates when James Dosen, 51, attacked her, throwing her to the ground before biting off part of her ear.

On Tuesday, Unitas described how she felt as she watched surveillance video of the attack.

“He kind of like grabbed me almost in like a headlock and pulled me close to him,” she said. “So then I couldn’t like push my hands against him to fight back. He threw me to the ground and that’s when I kind of knew ‘Okay, I’m in fight or flight mode right now.’”

Surveillance video of the attack shows a group of jail deputies attempting to stop the inmate before he threw Unitas to the ground where he took a bite out of her ear.

“When he bit a piece off, he actually swallowed the piece he bit off,” she added.

Unitas says doctors used 18 stitches to close her wound.

Earlier this month, county commissioners recognized Unitas for her courage and bravery and proclaimed May 3 as Detention Officer Brooklyn Unitas Appreciation Day.

Dosen was already in jail on a misdemeanor battery charge, according to jail records. He is now charged with aggravated assault and battery against a law enforcement officer.

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