EVANSTON — An Evanston man was arrested on Saturday, July 13, on charges of aggravated assault and battery and interfering with a peace officer. Levi T. Trimble was arrested following a call to dispatch regarding a verbal argument between Trimble and his wife at their home. While en route to respond to the argument, officers were notified Trimble had a firearm. 

Officers Zachary Marler, Nikoli Knezovich and Ty Asay and Sgt. Chad Liechty responded to the call late Saturday night, when they were initially called regarding the domestic argument and notified the husband was possibly leaving the residence. When Marler and Knezovich arrived, they observed Trimble standing outside between two vehicles holding a brown camouflage hunting rifle. 

Trimble was allegedly holding the gun with the barrel pointing into the air but refused to put the gun down following multiple commands from police officers. The police report states Trimble then looked directly at officers and went through motions of loading a bullet into the gun’s chamber, causing officers to believe he was readying to possibly fire. With guns drawn, officers again ordered Trimble to lower the weapon, which he allegedly did not do. 

At that point, Trimble walked to one of the vehicles and put the gun inside. Officers then ordered Trimble to the ground, and again he did not comply. Marler and Knezovich then reportedly went “hands on” with Trimble for officer safety since they did not know if he had other weapons. 

The report states Marler and Knezovich holstered their pistols and tackled Trimble, as he continued to resist and fight the officers. After placing one arm in handcuffs, Trimble allegedly grabbed the other cuff and refused to release it until Asay intervened and forced Trimble to let go of the cuff. Liechty reportedly repeatedly advised Trimble to stop resisting as he was being cuffed and forcibly placed inside the patrol vehicle, during which time he continued to fight. Once inside the vehicle, he allegedly began striking his head against the vehicle windows. 

Trimble’s wife told officers the two had an argument after Trimble had been drinking. She said she had asked him to leave the residence because she didn’t want to fight around their infant son. When he refused to leave, she went to call police, at which point he allegedly said, “If you call the cops they won’t get here in time. See what happens,” and went to the vehicle and grabbed the rifle. 

Officers found two hunting rifles in Trimble’s vehicle, neither of which were actually found to be loaded. 

After medical clearance at Evanston Regional Hospital, Trimble was booked into the Uinta County Detention Center.