Albert Lea man faces drug charges after Saturday foot chase

(ABC 6 News) – An Albert Lea man is accused of several drug charges after allegedly fleeing police through an Albert Lea neighborhood.

According to court documents, at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30, an officer with the Albert Lea Police Department allegedly saw a car idling on the corner of Triangle and Wedgemore Drives, which allegedly took off when the police car approached and made several traffic infractions in quick succession.

When the officer turned on his lights, the vehicle allegedly accelerated, then pulled into a gravel parking lot near Front Street West and Washington Avenue South.

The officer claims that 36-year-old Jacob Alan Gardner, the only person in the vehicle, exited the vehicle and fled on foot westbound.

Court documents claim that the same officer had arrested Gardner before, and knew his driver’s license had been revoked.

Court documents further alleged that Gardner was known to possess firearms, flee and escape from custody.

The officer allegedly attempted to tase Gardner as he crossed Pearl Street South, and court documents describe a physical struggle with multiple attempts to take the suspect to the ground.

According to court documents, officers noticed “a large quantity of a white crystalline substance directly under where the struggle had occurred, along with a used methamphetamine pipe and (the) Defendant’s car keys.”

Court documents also allege that officers could see a clear baggie of marijuana through the window of Gardner’s abandoned car, and a search revealed 15 bags with about an ounce each of marijuana in them and about 68 ounces of a brand-name cannabis concentrate.

Court documents claim the white crystalline substance found on the ground weighed about an ounce, or just over 27 grams.

Gardner faces charges of felony 2nd-degree drug possession–25 grams or more cocaine or methamphetamine; gross misdemeanor obstruction of the legal process; two counts of misdemeanor cannabis possession–more than four ounces cannabis flower, 16 grams of cannabis concentrate; and misdemeanor fleeing police on foot and driving after license revocation.

He is currently held on $75,000 bail with conditions, or $100,000 bail with no conditions.