QuickTake:

The former officer, Stephen Lahm, is visible on a police dashboard camera video punching a handcuffed man and shocking him with a Taser. The man has sued, seeking up to $1 million.

A former Eugene police officer named in a civil lawsuit after punching a handcuffed man has denied allegations of excessive force and claimed the city has “obligations” to represent him in court.

Stephen Lahm filed his answer to a civil lawsuit Monday, Sept. 14, in U.S. District Court in Eugene, 10 days after the city filed its response and denied allegations made by the handcuffed man, Jehoshaphat Commandest.

Lahm can be seen on dash-cam video punching Commandest repeatedly in the face and then using a Taser to twice shock him. Police had detained Commandest on suspicion of trespassing.

Commandest filed the lawsuit seeking up to $1 million after the Jan. 11, 2025, encounter. In Eugene Municipal Court, Commandest pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing but had a resisting arrest charge dismissed.

Lahm resigned last November “in lieu of termination” according to state documents. The Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training has an open case pending against Lahm, who is not currently working as a police officer. The department has the authority to revoke certification from police officers.

The lawsuit and a document provided to Lookout by Commandest’s attorney, Derek Larwick, describe a finding by Eugene’s police auditor that Lahm violated the police department’s use-of-force policy and also its conduct policy, and that police Chief Chris Skinner agreed with the auditor’s recommendations.

The city, in its Sept. 4 court filing, said it “admits that it concluded Defendant Lahm had violated several policies as articulated in its adjudication of his use of force related to” Commandest. The city is representing another officer named in the lawsuit, Lindsey Collier.

In his court filing Monday, Lahm claims he asked the city to represent him in the civil lawsuit and “indemnify him from any possible award.”

“Thus far, the City of Eugene has refused to perform its obligations to defendant Lahm,” Lahm’s court filing states.

Lahm is represented by Salem-based attorneys Keith Bauer and Michael J. Walker, who did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.