Lane County deputy hospitalized after jail assault by Eugene inmate

A Lane County Jail deputy with more than 25 years of law-enforcement experience was hospitalized after an inmate from Eugene punched her repeatedly in the face during dayroom checks in a housing area, a violent burst that ended only when another person in custody stepped in.

The assault happened Thursday, April 30, while the deputy was securing single-cell doors during dayroom time at the jail on 101 W. 5th Ave. in Eugene. The Lane County Sheriff’s Office identified the person accused as Reid Michael Squires, 23, who was in custody at the time. The deputy suffered significant injuries, was taken to an area hospital, and has since been discharged, though she is still recovering.

Investigators later charged Squires with Assault on a Public Safety Officer and Assault in the 4th degree. Lane County jail records show he was already being held awaiting trial in a separate Eugene Police Department case that includes allegations of rape in the first degree, three counts of sex abuse in the first degree, three counts of sodomy in the first degree and three counts of using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct.

The attack underscores the day-to-day danger corrections deputies face inside Lane County’s largest detention facility, where routine tasks such as door checks, medication distribution and inmate movement are carried out in close quarters. In this case, the violence broke out during an ordinary housing-unit duty, not during a planned disturbance or a high-profile confrontation. Another incarcerated person intervened before more deputies arrived, a reminder of how quickly control can shift inside a jail unit.

Lane County says its Jail Viewer provides public access to current custody information, but the records can change quickly and are not guaranteed to be fully accurate. The county also says the Lane County Jail is the only facility in the county that can hold felony defendants and offenders, which makes the jail central to every stage of the local criminal justice system.

The assault also lands against a longer backdrop of strain inside county corrections. A Lane County budget document says 2008-2012 budget cuts eliminated 200 sheriff’s-office FTE positions, laid off 100 employees and reduced jail beds to 125, while the same document says a county the size and population of Lane County should have 526 jail beds. Earlier reporting this year described another jail assault involving a mop handle during medication distribution, and late last year another deputy was allegedly attacked during a security check. For jail staff, the latest incident added another injury to a pattern that has become hard to dismiss.