Aug. 8 – The attorney for the Albert Lea man charged with multiple felony counts related to a brief chase, traffic stop and subsequent seizure of items from his car and home last month is questioning the constitutionality of the original traffic stop in his client’s case and asked Wednesday to drop all charges against him.
Adam Alan Penhollow, 48, is charged with fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle; fifth-degree drug possession; possessing, manufacturing, transporting or storing an explosive after being convicted of using, possessing or selling a narcotic drug; selling or possessing a silencer not lawfully possessed under federal law; driving under the influence (refusing to submit to a chemical test as required by a search warrant); possessing ammunition or discharging a narcotic drug through a firearm; and driving after a suspended license.
Police discovered one of the items seized from his vehicle, a homemade pipe bomb, in a locked gun case that had been returned to the Freeborn County Law Enforcement Center after searching the man’s vehicle following the traffic stop. The device prompted the evacuation of the government center complex for more than three hours, and authorities called in the St. Paul Bomb Squad to remove it.
Penhollow’s attorney, John Brooks, requested that all evidence seized from Penhollow as a result of the traffic stop and subsequent searches be suppressed. He argued that law enforcement officers detained and seized Penhollow without reasonable “probable cause,” in violation of both the U.S. and state constitutions.
Brooks also questioned the search of Penhollow’s vehicle, the warrant for the discovery of Penhollow’s blood or urine, the search of the safe in his vehicle, and the search of his home.
Court documents show an officer was alerted to Penhollow after spotting a possible fight outside the Walmart pharmacy at 1550 Blake Ave. A man left the group and got into a gray Kia Soreno registered to Penhollow’s wife.
The officer believed the man to be Penhollow, who was reportedly driving on a suspended license, and after verifying this information with dispatchers, the officer attempted to pull Penhollow over on Sorenson Road south of Hammer Road. Before turning on his lights, the officer noticed that Penhollow had reportedly failed to signal his turn properly.
Court documents state that instead of stopping, the vehicle accelerated and the officer activated his siren. The vehicle allegedly accelerated to 55 mph before turning onto Paradise Road. After the officer used the public address system in his car to address Penhollow by name, Penhollow allegedly stopped the vehicle and was arrested for driving after revocation and felony fleeing.
Another officer began an inventory of the vehicle and saw parts of baggies with white residue inside and began a drug evaluation and obtained a search warrant for a blood or urine sample. Officers also found a locked gun safe in the vehicle within easy reach of the driver. Court documents state that the safe appeared heavy after they pulled him over and that officers believed there was an illegal weapon inside, so they applied for and obtained a search warrant to open the safe.
Once at the Freeborn County Jail, Penhollow refused to provide a blood or urine sample, despite the warrant.
When officers opened the gun safe, they found a baggie containing more than 9 grams of a white crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a homemade pipe bomb.
After officers obtained a search warrant for Penhollow’s home, they found a shotgun, rifle and pistol ammunition, a revolver, a stockless rifle with a silencer on a barrel shorter than the legal length, a CO2 container used as an explosive, a cartridge reloader, another explosive device, and a partially homemade Sten submachine gun.
The arguments will be heard at a hearing on September 3.
