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The Des Moines Register, Wednesday, January 3, 1996, 1A

Trimble's wife accuses him of domestic abuse after dispute

He is ordered to stay away from his spouse after allegedly
threatening to kill her and himself in a dispute hours before his
arrest.

By TOM ALEX
Register Staff Writer

     An Urbandale police officer arrested on drug trafficking
charges is also facing a charge of domestic abuse.
     James R. Trimble threatened to kill his wife and then commit
suicide early New Year's Day, according to a no-contact order
issued Tuesday in Polk County District Court.  The order was
issued after police said Trimble's wife turned up at the West Des
Moines police station, saying she had been the victim of domestic
abuse.
     Under the order, Trimble must stay away from his wife, Robin
Lynn, until Jan. 24.
     The incident is said to have occured two hour's into 1996
and about two hours before James Trimble was arrested by Des
Moines police.
     Trimble, 43, an 18-year veteran of the Urbandale department
who has been active in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
program (D.A.R.E.), was arrested early Monday.  Police said they
found a little over 7 ounces of methamphetamine -- $20,000 worth
-- in the van he was driving.
     He was charged with two counts of possession of narcotics
with intent to deliver and with a tax stamp violation.
     Authorities said he also had sexually explicit videotapes
and pictures when Des Moines police pulled him over in the 600
block of Clark Street.  He has been suspended from his work with
the department and the school.
     A Des Moines woman with Trimble also was arrested: Lorrie
Breiholz, 34, of 433 Philip St. was charged with possession of
narcotics with the intent to deliver.  Police said Trimble
apparently picked her up at Seventh Street and College Avenue
earlier in the morning.
     Police said they did not show a prior arrest record for
Breiholz and did not say how she came to be in the car.
     Police raided the Trimble home at 50l Second St., West Des
Moines, hours after the arrests.  Robin Lynn, Trimble's wife, was
charged with possession of narcotics after a "dime size" amount
of marijuana was found, police said.  She was later released.
     According to the report filed by Trimble's wife, he
allegedly grabbed her by the arms during an argument and left a
bruise the size of a quarter on her upper right arm.
     Meanwhile, Urbandale Police Chief David Hamlin said officers
were checking to see whether any confiscated drugs held for court
cases were missing from evidence lockers.
     Hamlin said that Trimble, who until Monday headed the five-
officer drug prevention unit, has been entrusted in the past with
the task of destroying illegal narcotics by burning them.
     As with any pollee officer on the department, Trimble was
hired only after an extensive background check, Hamlin said.
     "Regardless of the procedures you set up, if an officer
wants to be crooked there's a way to do it," Hamlin said.
     At a news conferenee Tuesday, Des Moines police Sgt. William
Judkins described the arrest as traumatic.
     "I feel badly for the image of the police department,"
Judkins said.
     No charges were filed in connection with the "large amount"
of sexually oriented photographs and videos police said they
found on Trimble.  Judkins, noting that Trimble has been a school
liaison officer in Urbandale, made a point of saying none of the
pictures or videos included anyone of school age.
     Following an initial appearance Tuesday in Polk County
District Court, Trimble was released from the Polk County Jail
under the county's pretrial release program.  He is scheduled to
appear in court on the two drug counts on Feb. 6.

     THIS ARTICLE includes a report from Register Staff Writer
Stephanie Armour.