By MAIRE O’NEILLA 20-year-old man is in custody pending two preliminary hearings Friday in Los Alamos Magistrate Court following his April 18 arrest by Los Alamos police on multiple charges.
Trenton EngelKing has been charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, tampering with evidence, possession of a firearm by a felon, escaping or attempting to escape the custody of a police officer and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer (arrest). He also faces a charge of larceny of $3,000 in connection with a 2016 Magistrate Court case for which he had an outstanding warrant.
According to court documents, LAPD Cpl. Emmanuel Rodriguez was dispatched to a Cascabel address in response to a report of an assault on a household member. The reporting party stated that EngelKing had pulled a knife on him and told Rodriguez that EngelKing might be in possession of a firearm.
The statement of probable cause indicates that EngelKing ran to the canyon south of Barranca Mesa Elementary School. Rodriguez informed Cpl. Eric Wilhoit of the possible direction EngelKing headed and went to get statements from witnesses. LAPD Dispatch informed Rodriguez that EngelKing had an outstanding no bond warrant for his arrest.
At the residence, Rodriguez and Cpl. Jack Casias found a bag of shotgun shells and the reporting party told them EngelKing had stated he had a sawed off shotgun. Meanwhile, EngelKing was apprehended and placed in Rodriguez’s patrol unit. When Casias went to check on him, EngelKing had escaped by rolling down the window and jumping out. He was found walking down Barranca Road and taken into custody.
When police officers entered EngelKing’s room, they found an altered, single-shot shotgun with a five-inch barrel wrapped in a scarf in a bag. Dispatch ran the serial number but no record of the firearm was found. Court documents indicate that knowing that EngelKing was a possible felon out of Colorado and was possibly in possession of an altered firearm, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was contacted.
The reporting party told officers that EngelKing had threatened “to shove a knife in his stomach”. LAPD contacted the Adult Probation and Parole Department and an order was issued for his arrest. APP had already done an interstate compact transfer for violation of his probation.
