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.