EVANSTON — An Evanston outfitter was arrested last week after he allegedly assaulted a peace officer over a years-long trespassing dispute. Dustin Lym, 41, who owns and operates Big Rack Outfitters and is also a teacher at Mountain View Middle School, was arrested by the Uinta County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, Sept. 3.

According to the arrest report, Lym leases land north of Evanston from the Martin Ranch. Lym told deputy Cameron Winberg that someone had shot a deer about 150 yards into the private property, so he called Nick Roberts, Evanston’s game warden for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), to investigate. The report indicates Lym did not want to press charges but the hunters had trespassed and they were allowed to leave, though it appears they didn’t do so immediately.

Lym told Winberg, according to the report, that the outfitter “had been fighting with Warden Roberts for several years over this same issue and it is now starting to mess with his livelihood.”

Shortly after dealing with the trespassers, a fiery exchange occurred between Lym and Roberts.

“Dustin and Warden Roberts began arguing; it got really heated and they were in each other’s face,” Winberg wrote after speaking to Lym about the incident. “At some point, Dustin’s and Warden Roberts’ heads collided with one another.” Lym allegedly told Winberg the collision was a “mutual head-butt” as “Warden Roberts’ head went up and Dustin’s head went down, it just happened.”

Roberts’ account of the incident, however, is different than Lym’s. According to the report, Roberts told Winberg that after the hunter was trespassed, “Dustin became upset and angry that Game and Fish doesn’t put proper signage around his property.” Roberts said he was trying to understand why Lym was so angry when Lym rushed toward Roberts and “got in his face,” yelling expletives.

Roberts, according to the report, told Winberg that he then pushed Lym out of his face and yelled for him to get back. “After taking a few steps back, Dustin came forward again and put his face against Warden Roberts, then forcefully, using the top of his forehead, hit the bridge of Warden Roberts’ nose, causing him to fall back.”

Roberts said he felt blood running down his nose before he “finished speaking with the trespassers,” later learning that Lym had called the sheriff’s office to report the incident.

Lym is charged with one count of interference with a peace officer causing bodily injury — a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He’s scheduled to be in court today, Friday, Sept. 11, for a preliminary hearing in Circuit Court to determine whether there is enough evidence to pursue the felony charge in Third District Court.