An Oregon cop who punched and tasered a handcuffed man, leading to his forced termination and a lawsuit against him is insisting the city pay for his legal defense.
But the city of Eugene has refused to defend Stephen Lahm, claiming he “violated several policies” that led to his resignation in “lieu of termination,” according to local media.
The 27-year-old plaintiff, Jehoshaphat Commandest, is a dark-skinned Pacific Islander who accused the cop of racial profiling when arresting him on a trespass charge on Jan. 11, 2025.
“I asked Commandest why he thought he was going to jail,” a Eugene police officer wrote in his arrest report after arriving to the scene where Commandest had been handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car.
“He said it was because he’s ‘Black.’ Commandest said no one was going to listen to him because he was a minority.”
Dashcam video shows Lahm and another officer leading a handcuffed Commandest to the front of the patrol car when he began pulling away from the officers who were holding each of his arms.
Lahm responds by punching the handcuffed man several times in the face before pulling out his Taser and pressing it against Commandest’s right side of the body, discharging it twice for several seconds.
Commandest responds by screaming out in pain.
Police said they arrested Commandest after finding him in a vacant house collecting scrap metal next door to the house he shared with his fiancée.
Commandest told the officers he had permission, but they arrested him on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest because the owner had called 911, accusing him of trespassing and stealing items, Lahm claims in court records.
He pleaded guilty to the trespassing charge in December 2025, while prosecutors dismissed the resisting arrest charge. The court fined him $310 and placed him on probation for a year, according to online court records.
Commandest filed a lawsuit in state court in July and moved the case to federal court on Sept. 2.
But while the city of Eugene is representing Lindsey Collier, the officer who was holding Commandest while Lahm punched and tasered him, it has refused to defend Lahm.
In a Sept. 4 court filing, the city said it “concluded Defendant Lahm had violated several policies as articulated in its adjudication of his use of force related to” Commandest.
On Sept. 14, Lahm filed an answer to the federal lawsuit, saying the city has “obligations” to defend him because he was “performing his official duties” when he arrested Commandest.
The City of Eugene owes defendant Lahm a duty to defend and a duty to indemnify in the present lawsuit.
Defendant Lahm has requested that the City of Eugene provide him with a defense in the present lawsuit and indemnify him from any possible award. Thus far, the City of Eugene has refused to perform its obligations to defendant Lahm.
Derek Larwick, one of the attorneys representing Commandest in his civil suit, emailed Atlanta Black Star a statement arguing that law enforcement officers have a sacred responsibility to protect the public and should never abuse their authority.
“Mr. Commandest, who was arrested only for suspicion of trespassing, was handcuffed and restrained,” Larwick said.
“When Officer Lahm punched Mr. Commandest in the face, attempted to choke him, and used the Taser multiple times, all while Mr. Commandest was handcuffed, that was an abuse of power.”
“The force was excessive under the Constitution of the United States of America, and it was negligence and battery,” the attorney continued.
“Although the City of Eugene Auditor found Officer Lahm’s conduct to be a violation of its own policies, the City has refused to do anything to make things right with Mr. Commandest, forcing us to file this lawsuit to obtain justice.”
Larwick believes Lahm is counting on Oregon Revised Statute 30.285(1), which states that a public agency must protect its officers, employees, and agents from tort lawsuits or claims connected to actions they allegedly took – or failed to take – while doing their official jobs.
But the statute includes a provision that states the law does “not apply in case of malfeasance in office or willful or wanton neglect of duty” — which the city could argue is the case here.
If the case proceeds without the city defending Lahm and a jury sides with Commandest, Lahm would have to pay any damages himself. The city would also have to pay damages because Commandest named it as a defendant in the lawsuit.
The Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, the state agency responsible for certifying law enforcement officers, is investigating Lahm’s actions and may revoke his law enforcement certification, making it impossible for Lahm to ever work as a cop again in Oregon, local media reported.
Lahm started working as an insurance adjuster earlier this year, but the company has since removed his photo from its website.
