EUGENE, Ore. — A University of Oregon police officer and handler of the department’s K-9 was fired last fall, after an internal investigation confirmed four allegations of misconduct, including lying and overuse of force.
The Register-Guard reported Officer Troy Phillips was terminated from his position Nov. 25 after a man riding a bicycle, who Phillips inappropriately stopped at gunpoint in October 2018, filed notice that he intended to sue the university’s police department.
That man, Eliborio Rodrigues, 40, was shot and killed by a Eugene police officer Nov. 30. Officer Samuel Tykol fired three times into the abdomen of Rodrigues after Rodrigues repeatedly punched Tykol and turned the officer’s Taser against him, Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow said. She said Tykol’s actions were justified.
The University Police Department has not said what happened to Phillips or the department’s K-9, Onyx, which was assigned to Phillips. The University of Oregon did not fulfill a Dec. 12 public records request by The Register-Guard regarding Phillips and Onyx until Thursday.
University spokeswoman Kay Jarvis also said in a statement Thursday that Phillips is no longer with the University of Oregon Police Department.
