New lawsuit filed in Bend police brutality case; officer’s criminal case approaches settlement

Published 5:00 am Tuesday, May 30, 2023

A Bend Police officer facing misdemeanor assault charges stemming from a June 2021 arrest is now being sued by the man he allegedly assaulted.

Caleb Hamlin alleges Kevin Uballez used excessive force when he arrested him on June 6, 2021, according to the lawsuit filed in the Deschutes County Circuit Court on May 17.

The lawsuit also states Uballez falsely arrested Hamlin and alleges the officer violated his rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments, which forbid unlawful search and seizure and guarantees the right to due process and equal protection under the law.

Hamlin is seeking more than $1.02 million in damages from Uballez and the city of Bend, the lawsuit states.

“We should celebrate that we live in a country where police officers who physically abuse people can be required to face a civil jury,” Gregory Kafoury, Hamlin’s Portland-based attorney, told The Bulletin. He declined to comment further.

Meanwhile, a settlement conference for the criminal case against Uballez is scheduled for June 14. Uballez was charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and harassment. He has pleaded not guilty.

Kafoury said the settlement conference does not involve parties in the civil suit at this point.

Uballez has been on administrative leave from the Bend Police Department since June 6, 2021. Since then, he has been paid $132,498.30, said Bend police spokeswoman Sheila Miller.

“It is customary that those on administrative leave from our police department are paid while that leave is ongoing,” Miller said in an email to The Bulletin.

Miller said the department can’t comment on the pending litigation.

The police brutality case stems from an incident that occurred after three teens allegedly assaulted Hamlin.

Callers told 911 that a drunk Hamlin had been running down roads that night, attempting to strike and chase cars and impede traffic, according to court records. Then Hamlin got in a fight with a group of teenage boys at the intersection of NW Lemhi Pass Drive and Skyliners Road, according to court records. The teens punched and kicked Hamlin and then left, the documents state.

Soon after, a 911 caller reported being chased by an injured man.

Uballez was the first officer to respond. He reported that Hamlin then threatened him and his police dog, according to court records.

Hamlin initially refused an order to get on his knees, but then got on the ground as more police arrived, according to court records. Police told him to get on his stomach, but he didn’t, so Uballez took Hamlin’s left arm and shoulder and put him on his stomach, according to court records from Uballez’s Portland-based defense attorney, Steven Myers.

The civil suit describes the encounter differently. It states that while Hamlin was “under arrest, compliant, and on his knees,” Uballez approached him from behind. Uballez allegedly slammed Hamlin’s head forward into the ground, injuring him, the lawsuit states. Hamlin also alleges Uballez didn’t have probable cause to arrest him.

Myers said in an email to The Bulletin that “in the interest of maintaining integrity of the judicial process it would not be appropriate for me, nor any other involved attorney, to comment on the settlement conference prior to it occurring, nor the civil lawsuit recently filed, prior to its conclusion.”

The case first made the news after two Bend police officers reported the incident to supervisors, drawing praise from former Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel. Hummel credited the officers with breaking a “blue wall of silence,” saying they “put service to our community ahead of protection of a colleague,” according to news reports.

One of the officers was Peter Enna. Since the incident, court records in Uballez’s criminal case state that Enna was “found to be untruthful while on duty and was added to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Brady List,” a list sometimes kept by prosecutors of officers who they consider too dishonest to call as witnesses in court. Enna resigned in May 2022.

This isn’t the only lawsuit the department is facing regarding the use of force.

A 17-year-old girl, who went missing from state foster care, alleged three Bend police officers found her and then unnecessarily slammed her into the pavement, dislocating her shoulder while detaining her. The girl filed a tort claim notice in February, indicating she intends to sue the city.

Bend police officers reported using force 70 times in 2022, according to the department’s annual report, which was published in March. Of those, 16 incidents ended with officers being injured, while 41 ended with suspects being injured.