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LAYTON — Ace Lawson is still perplexed by what police say happened inside his apartment complex early Saturday.
"Just curious what was going through his head," Lawson said. "I only met him once or twice. He didn't seem like that kind of guy. He seemed pretty cool."
Lawson is referring to 21-year-old Austin Jeffery Noble, who police say wandered into a nearby apartment wearing only a hoodie, a bow tie and socks. Lawson said Noble had attended a party just downstairs from him.
"He was beyond drunk," Lawson said.
Layton police say sometime before 4 a.m., Noble wandered out of the party and into a nearby apartment. An arrest affidavit states he then laid down next to a 17-year-old girl who was sleeping on the couch and started rubbing her inner thigh, legs and buttocks.
Layton police Lt. Travis Lyman said the girl awoke confused and at first thought she might have been dreaming.
Just curious what was going through his head. I only met him once or twice. He didn't seem like that kind of guy. He seemed pretty cool.
–Ace Lawson
"She got up and asked her sister if she knew who the person was and she didn't," Lyman said. "They confronted this guy and started yelling at him, and he quickly left the apartment."
Lyman said officers arrived to find several people from the party outside and eventually caught up with Noble, who was still not wearing pants.
"They did actually see the suspect and gave chase," Lyman said. "There was a short foot pursuit before they were able to catch him."
Noble was booked into the Davis County Jail, pending several potential charges for forcible sex abuse, burglary, lewdness, intoxication, failure to stop at the command of a police officer and criminal trespass.
Lyman said he told officers he could only remember running from them and claimed to have no idea what had happened moments before.
The next morning, Lawson said he saw something strange on his front porch.
"(I) found a pair of britches that I thought belonged to my wife," Lawson said, further describing that as he picked up the pants, Noble's driver's license and a cellphone fell out.
According to court records, Noble agreed to take a breathalyzer test, and it indicated a blood alcohol level of .209, more than double the legal limit.
