Former Bend Police Officer Kevin Uballez has told the city he plans to file a lawsuit that alleges he was wrongfully fired from the job.

Former Bend Police Officer Kevin Uballez intends to sue the city for defamation and wrongful termination after an excessive use of force investigation resulted in him being fired from the department earlier this year.

Uballez filed a tort claim notice — official notification of intent to sue — with the city on July 18. In it, he questions the police command staff’s motivations for his termination and whether it was an appropriate discipline given the context of the incident and the untrustworthiness of the officer who reported him.

He had been accused of using excessive force in 2021 when detaining a man during an arrest in west Bend, according to previous reporting by The Bulletin. Uballez restrained the man, Caleb Hamlin, after Hamlin was reportedly running drunkenly in the street near Summit High School. Uballez was reported for using excessive force by two other officers, including then-officer Peter Enna, who said he heard a loud thud when Hamlin hit the ground. The department placed Uballez on administrative leave the next day and reported the incident to the Oregon State Police.

The criminal charges of assault and harassment were dropped after Enna was placed on the “Brady List” — a list kept by the district attorney’s office of untrustworthy law enforcement officers — for lying about a separate case. But Bend Police Department’s internal investigation determined Uballez did use excessive force and that he was in violation of department policy when he was charged with a crime that “negatively reflected the Bend Police Department.” Uballez was fired on Jan. 19.

Alleged concealment of information

Uballez alleges Bend Police Department employees and managers intentionally concealed information from the internal affairs investigation that would have demonstrated Uballez’s use of force was justified. In particular, he cites the exclusion of Hamlin’s uncooperative nature as the fact that Hamlin had pre-existing injures when Uballez arrived.

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“Oregon State Police completed a thorough investigation and determined that Hamlin got into a fight with several other males before the interaction with Uballez … More likely than not, Hamlin sustained his injuries from this fight,” the tort claim notice states.

During the criminal investigation, then-District Attorney John Hummel advocated for that information about Hamlin to be omitted from evidence, reasoning it would portray Hamlin in a negative light and make Uballez’s actions seem justifiable. The criminal case against Uballez was dismissed when Steve Gunnels became district attorney, in part because Enna was disqualified from giving testimony after being placed on the Brady List and in part because prosecutors determined they could not prove the charges against Uballez.

Uballez also alleges that Sgt. Wesley Murphy worked to conceal Enna’s untrustworthiness by failing for several months to initiate an investigation against Enna even though another officer had made a complaint. When approached by a second officer, Murphy stated “that he forgot about the Enna lying incident.” Enna was placed on leave in Nov. 2021 and resigned in May 2022. The lying incident took place in July 2021.

“Given Enna’s untrustworthiness, his recollection of the events with Hamlin should have been disregarded and not considered,” the tort claim argues. “Had this information (about Enna and Hamlin) been brought forward sooner, Uballez may not have had to endure the criminal charges, public criticism and termination.”

Questioning command’s motivations

Uballez also accuses the Bend Police Department of treating him, a Hispanic man, “differently than a white co-worker, Enna, in how the internal affairs investigation took place, criminal charges and allowing Enna to resign instead of being terminated.” For example, after Uballez was reported, Murphy was prompt about placing him on administrative leave. He also reported the incident to the Oregon State Police, resulting in criminal charges. However, Murphy was neither prompt about addressing allegations Enna lied to keep a transient male in custody, nor did he report the violation to Oregon State Police, Uballez alleges.

Uballez also points to the fact that Enna was allowed to resign quietly from his position while Uballez was “defamed by the very public reporting and publication of falsities in the incident between Hamlin and Uballez.”

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Police records suggest that the difference in treatment can be accounted for in the impact the investigation into Uballez’s actions had on the department.

“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.”

In May 2023, Hamlin sued Uballez and the city of Bend for excessive use of force and a wrongful arrest. His $1.02 million lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court.

‘Our department stands by that disciplinary action’

Sheila Miller, spokesperson for the Bend Police Department, provided a statement saying the Bend Police Department is ready to defend against all of Uballez’s allegations.

“While our Department cannot comment on the specifics of the tort claim notice, we dispute many of the claims alleged in the notice and intend to vigorously defend against any lawsuit Mr. Uballez may choose to file,” Miller told The Bulletin on Thursday.

“As you know, Mr. Uballez’s criminal charges were dropped by the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office in November 2023, at which time our Department proceeded with an internal affairs investigation. That investigation determined Mr. Uballez had violated several policies, including the unreasonable use of force, and he was terminated from employment in January of this year. Our Department stands by that investigation and disciplinary action,” the statement continues.

The tort claim notice says Uballez intends to sue the city and the Bend Police Department for damages. Andrew Mittendorf, Uballez’s lawyer, said his goal is primarily to restore his reputation.

“At this point, he feels like a lot of the trust has been eroded between him and the city of Bend Police Department, so I don’t think that he’s very likely to want to return to there,” Mittendorf said on behalf of Uballez. “It’s really about restoring his reputation, as well as bringing attention to this incident and the racial discrimination that he faced, hopefully preventing it from happening to another devoted law enforcement officer.”