Crime Lab Worker Microwaved His Own Blood Sample To Escape Prosecution: LA County DA

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man who worked in the sheriff's crime lab managing evidence has been accused of tampering with evidence connected to his own DUI arrest in an effort to escape punishment, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Tommy Ray Trimble, 60, is charged with one felony count each of second-degree commercial burglary, preparing false evidence and destroying government records, along with a misdemeanor count of destroying evidence, prosecutors said.

Trimble, who at the time was an evidence and property custodian at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department crime laboratory in Downey, was arrested on July 7, 2024 on the 91 Freeway in Compton on suspicion of driving under the influence. His blood was drawn as part of the investigation, the DA's office said.

About two month later, a criminalist at the Downey facility examined Trimble’s blood sample and noticed it had been damaged. Trimble is accused of going into the vault where the sample was stored, taking out the sample, and heating it in a microwave, prosecutors said.

“We entrust our public officials and law enforcement officers to uphold the law, not to break it,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said. “Those who perform civic service should expect to be held to a higher standard. This wasn’t a mistake. This was a concerted effort to flout the law to escape justice.”

Trimble is set to be arraigned Friday.