A Bend Police officer who faced scrutiny for accusations of excessive force during a June 2021 arrest has been fired.

The department terminated Officer Kevin Uballez’s employment on Friday after the police department completed an internal investigation, according to department spokeswoman Sheila Miller.

The department declined to disclose to The Bulletin why Uballez was fired or what its findings were.

“Because … this is a personnel employment issue, we cannot provide further information about his departure,” Miller said.

But records obtained by The Bulletin indicate investigators found that Uballez violated three parts of department policy, including for his use of force, which police called “unjustified and unreasonable, resulting in serious physical injury,” records say.

The investigation also found that Uballez violated policy because he “negatively reflected the Bend Police Department” by being charged with a crime.

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“This event has caused significant community relationship strain,” Bend Police records say. Uballez’s actions “significantly impacted our reputation as a police department” and “caused significant internal strife,” records say.

Uballez was placed on paid administrative leave on June 6, 2021. He was paid $184,038.27 while on leave, said Miller.

Attempts to reach Uballez for comment Friday were unsuccessful.

Uballez previously faced misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and harassment charges for allegedly slamming a man’s head into the ground during a 2021 arrest.

Prosecutors dismissed charges against Uballez in November, in part because one of the officers who reported him, Peter Enna, was later found to be untruthful in a separate case, disqualifying him from testifying.

Then-Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel had praised Enna and officer Martin Tabaco for reporting Uballez to supervisors, saying they broke the “blue wall of silence” and were the “embodiment of what it means to be a law enforcement officer.”

But Enna lied during an unrelated arrest and jail booking in July 2021 to make sure a man was kept in jail, Hummel later found. Hummel placed Enna on the Brady List, a list sometimes kept by prosecutors of officers they consider too dishonest to call as witnesses in court.

Prosecutors said Enna would have been “an essential witness” in Uballez’s trial, according to court records.

Bend Police investigators also found that Enna violated a number of department policies in this incident, records show. He was placed on leave in November 2021 and resigned in May 2022.

Sgt. Josh Spano, of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, worked at the Bend Police Department for seven years, eventually as a patrol corporal. He called Uballez a friend and said he had a solid record as a police officer. He said he had his doubts about both Enna and Tabaco and was concerned that city officials would fire Uballez, especially given Enna’s history of untruthful conduct.

“I think their lack of veracity is the thing in question,” said Spano, who was investigated but cleared of wrongdoing over his use of a keychain with a Greek phrase sometimes used by extremists and white supremacists. “And that the city stood by them instead of (Uballez), who didn’t do anything wrong.”

Uballez was charged following an incident in which he responded to a late-night 911 call from a group of youths on June 6, 2021. Caleb Hamlin, who had been drinking, was injured during a fight with a group of teenagers and was running in the road that night, according to court records.

Uballez arrived and said Hamlin charged him, according to court records. Moments later, after Hamlin refused police orders to lie on his stomach, Uballez put Hamlin on the ground.

Prior to using force, Uballez did not communicate with fellow officers, make an arrest plan, attempt to de-escalate the situation, provide a warning or offer an opportunity for Hamlin to comply with his orders, Bend Police found in the department’s internal investigation.

“When (Uballez) took the person to the ground, other members on scene reported hearing his head strike the roadway so hard it caused a loud thud,” records say, “and they observed a large amount of blood beginning to pool under (Hamlin’s) face/head/mouth area.”

Prosecutors said that only one police officer was wearing a body camera at the time of the incident, but the camera did not capture the moment Uballez put Hamlin on the ground. Ultimately, prosecutors concluded that they could not prove the charges against Uballez.

Hamlin sued Uballez and the city of Bend in May, alleging Uballez used excessive force, falsely arrested him and violated his rights. That lawsuit was dismissed in December, court records show.