Man breaks in through back door and beats ex with hammer, Oregon officials say
A man accused of breaking into his former girlfriend’s home and beating her with her own hammer is now heading to prison, Oregon officials said.
Steven Michael Hir, 42, from Scappoose, was ordered to serve 18 years behind bars after a jury convicted him of multiple charges, including assault, burglary, strangulation, menacing, harassment, stalking and unlawful use of a weapon, the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office said in a July 31 news release.
Hir didn’t have a defense attorney at trial and instead chose to represent himself, according to prosecutors.
Hir and the 48-year-old woman “dated intermittently” after meeting through an app, prosecutors said. They eventually split up.
In mid-February, Hir showed up to the woman’s apartment in Wilsonville without being invited, prosecutors said.
The pair had an argument, and Hir “strangled and punched her, causing a concussion,” according to prosecutors, who said the woman reported the attack to police.
Then nearly two weeks later, Hir returned and broke in via a back door, prosecutors said.
Hir “took a hammer from her toolbox and struck her approximately 30 times in the face, head, and body,” according to prosecutors, who said the woman had “devastating injuries” and was hospitalized for a week.
“It’s truly a miracle she is alive today,” Deputy District Attorney Rachel Erickson said in the news release.
Wilsonville is about a 20-mile drive south from Portland.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Man breaks in through back door and beats ex with hammer, Oregon officials say."
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