The owner of a high-profile DJ and emcee company based in Olympia is facing charges in a 2018 rape case, according to Thurston County Superior Court documents.
Prosecutors have charged Trevor Altman, 27, with second-degree rape, third-degree assault with sexual motivation, and unlawful imprisonment in a Dec. 13, 2018, incident at his home.
According to a prosecutor’s statement of probable cause based on police reports and law enforcement’s investigation:
Altman is accused of raping a woman who had come to his house to “hang out and watch TV” and forcing her to perform oral sex on him. He is accused of grabbing the woman by the throat and beginning to kiss her while they were watching TV, the statement reads. During the incident, he allegedly dragged her across the room by her hair, handcuffed her, and left her bruised and bloodied.
An arrest warrant was issued for Altman Dec. 6, and Thurston County jail records show he was arrested Dec. 11 — almost a year after the incident.
When asked why it took so long to bring charges, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Olivia Zhou told The Olympian law enforcement had to conduct an investigation, and evidence had to be sent to the Washington State Patrol crime lab for testing, she said.
At an arraignment Dec. 12, Altman’s lawyer entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Thurston County Superior Court Commissioner Rebekah Zinn signed a sexual assault protection order for the victim, ordered Altman to surrender any firearms, and set bail at $400,000.
Altman remained in jail as of Thursday afternoon.
According to court records, Altman has been charged with a crime twice before: He pleaded guilty to cyberstalking with sexual motivation — a gross misdemeanor — for electronic communications he had with a 13-year-old girl in 2010. He also pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree assault/domestic violence, another gross misdemeanor, for an incident that occurred in 2016.
According to the prosecutor’s statement of probable cause in the 2016 case, Altman was accused of choking a woman he was dating, punching and kneeing her in the side, and leaving her with black eyes.
Altman owns Altman Audio, a DJ and emcee company that works weddings, corporate parties, and dances, according to the company’s Facebook page.
Court documents in the current case against Altman say he’s employed “with a maintenance company and owns a business,” but the 2016 case documents more specifically list him as Altman Audio’s owner. His address on court documents also matches Altman Audio’s address on the state Department of Revenue’s website.
According to Facebook posts from the Washington State Combined Fund Drive, Altman Audio has been the DJ at its annual Masquerade Ball at the state Capitol in Olympia each year since 2017, including the ball hosted Oct. 19 of this year. In 2015, Trevor Altman and Altman Audio won the Best of South Sound Award in the DJ category.
A jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 3.
