Document: Eugene officer named in excessive force lawsuit resigned ‘in lieu of termination’

This story has been updated to clarify that Stephen Lahm is not currently a police officer, and with information from a Civilian Review Board case review matching the lawsuit.

The former Eugene police officer who punched and used a Taser on a man in handcuffs was facing termination of his employment at the time he resigned last November.

“Stephen Lahm separated in lieu of termination for several sustained allegations of misconduct,” states a form submitted by the Eugene Police Department to the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. 

The department has the authority to revoke certification from police officers, and has an open case pending against Lahm, who is not currently a police officer. A case under review “is not proof that a public safety professional engaged in misconduct,” according to the department.

An excessive force lawsuit filed last week in Lane County Circuit court names Lahm as a defendant for his alleged actions on Jan. 11, 2025 while detaining a man suspected of trespassing.

Video of the police encounter with Jehoshaphat Commandest that appears to be from the dash camera of a police vehicle shows a handcuffed Commandest being escorted to the vehicle while held by two officers. 

When Commandest turns away from the patrol vehicle, Lahm strikes him repeatedly and, moments later, twice uses a Taser to shock Commandest for a total of more than 10 seconds. Derek Larwick, the attorney representing Commandest, provided the video to Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

The lawsuit claims neither Lahm nor the other officer involved in detaining Commandest, Lindsey Collier, issued a warning to Commandest that physical force was going to be used against him, and that the force used by Lahm “was not objectively reasonable.”

Commandest alleges in the lawsuit he sustained injuries including a traumatic brain injury, ruptured blood vessels in his left eye and “significant facial bruising.” The lawsuit seeks damages of up to $1 million.

The city’s Police Auditor found evidence Lahm more likely than not violated the police department’s use-of-force policy and also its conduct policy, according to the lawsuit and a letter from Police Auditor Craig Renetzky to Commandest. Larwick provided the letter to Lookout Eugene-Springfield.

Eugene police, though a spokesperson, previously declined to comment on the lawsuit or Lahm’s resignation from the police department. A spokesperson Tuesday also declined to comment on any discipline Lahm was facing from the department, and also declined to comment on the document submitted to the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training.

‘Not an appropriate use’

An advisory body in the city of Eugene known as the Civilian Review Board reviews internal investigations of police misconduct, specifically closed complaint cases.

The group’s meetings are public, but the identities of officers named in the complaints are not.

At its Dec. 9, 2025 meeting, however, the board reviewed the outcome of allegations that appear to match the scenario described in Commandest’s lawsuit. The date of the officer misconduct under discussion by the board was given only as January 2025.

In that meeting, board members discussed information that the Salem Police Department opened a criminal investigation into the misconduct.

However, the person who filed the complaint about the misconduct had not cooperated with the criminal investigators, according to the group’s discussion, and the Lane County District Attorney’s Office had not filed any criminal charges.

“The DA chose to not file due to the lack of cooperation from the arrestee,” Lindsey Foltz, with the Police Auditor’s office, said during the meeting.

The document about Lahm released by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards said an “active, pending or completed” investigation had been “conducted by another public safety agency into allegations of misconduct involving the separated individual.”

Much of the discussion at the Dec. 9 meeting turned to police training, with EPD representatives answering questions from board members.

“We’re taught to use force until it stops whatever threat” officers are dealing with, said Lt. Owen Griffith with the Eugene Police Department at the Dec. 9 meeting.

“So, if that takes one punch in his face, then you stop,” Griffith said. “And you have to stop and assess after each one. You have to take that moment and assess. That’s what we teach people.”

The city’s Civilian Review Board’s members are appointed by the Eugene City Council.

Griffith spoke in response to questions from board members about what an officer, identified only as “Officer A,” reportedly said in response to misconduct allegations.

“Officer A stated he/she had safety concerns with the Arrestee. Officer A explained/justified the use of force because of the Arrestee’s failure to follow instructions, threatening behavior, and resistance,” documents prepared for the board stated.

In discussion during the meeting, the department’s deputy chief at the time, Shawn Adams, described some “open hand” physical tactics an officer might use in a “physical confrontation” with someone in handcuffs.

But as he described the response of Officer A, Adams told the group that “to utilize open hand or strikes in this situation, it really is not an appropriate use.”

Officer A also reportedly brought up the smaller stature of the other officer when asked by internal investigators about his conduct.

Comments “that somehow the stature of Officer B, or Officer B’s response, or in any way, shape, any manner, led to any justification for Officer A doing what he did is not supported by any fact at all,” Adams told the group.

“Regardless of gender in our organization, everybody goes through the same training, and you’re held to the same standard. … I was beyond offended at those comments in the investigative report,” he said.

Foltz, with the Police Auditor’s office, told the board that the Eugene Police Department’s Internal Affairs division had “flagged” the use of force, as did the Police Auditor’s office, before a complaint was received.

“We had already kind of started the thing in motion before the reporting party, I think, had even called in. So it all happened quite quickly and very proximate to when the force had been used,” Foltz said at the Dec. 9 meeting.