Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes released comments this week on the guilty verdict handed down on Wednesday (July 29th) against 38-year-old Matthew Thomas Lyrek of Montrose.
Lyrek was found guilty of 11 criminal offenses following a jury trial, including four counts of assault in the first degree and four counts of assault in the second degree stemming from an incident in Montrose in the spring of 2024.
(Matthew Lyrek – April 2024 image – Wright County Sheriff’s Office)
You may remember that on April 15th, 2024, several deputies with the Wright County Sheriff’s Office attempted to apprehend Lyrek on outstanding warrants in the parking lot of the Dollar General in Montrose after he had exited the store.
Lutes said the investigation showed that Lyrek pulled a loaded pistol from his waistband and pointed it at multiple deputies. Lyrek was shot several times by deputies, some using lethal force and others using less-than-lethal force. After several minutes, Lyrek relinquished the pistol and was taken into custody.
The county attorney said Lyrek was found to have an additional handgun tucked in the rear of his pants, as well as two additional firearms in his vehicle. Lutes went on to say that a search warrant executed at Lyrek’s home following the incident resulted in the recovery of four additional firearms and more than 29,000 rounds of ammunition. Lyrek was hospitalized for treatment of his injuries, and recovered to stand trial in the case. His sentencing was set for September 17th.
(Wright County Attorney – Brian Lutes)
County Attorney Lutes said in his statement that “…no one has the right to pull a gun, point a gun, threaten to shoot, or shoot at a police officer.” Lutes said if a criminal does this in Wright County, his department would fully prosecute the offender, and that he would do his best to send that person to prison for a long time.
