Albert Lea man charged in pipe bomb, fleeing police case
Adam Penhollow / Freeborn County Jail Roster
(ABC 6 News) – An Albert Lea man faces new charges after an incident with a bomb in the Freeborn County Courthouse Friday.
Adam Alan Penhollow, 47, faces felony charges of fleeing police; 5th-degree drug possession–not cannabis or hemp; possession of an explosive/incendiary device; and dangerous weapons–sell or possess suppressor not lawfully possessed.
Penhollow also faces gross misdemeanor DWI refusal to submit to test; and felon in possession of a firearm charges, as well as a misdemeanor driving after license revocation charge.
Penhollow is currently held at the Freeborn County Jail on $100,000 bail with conditions, or $200,000 bail with no conditions.
According to court documents filed Monday, July 8, Albert Lea police allegedly saw Penhollow leave a possible fight outside a Walmart and get into a car.
Penhollow’s license had been revoked, so the officer allegedly attempted to stop Penhollow on Sorenson Road.
According to court documents, Penhollow accelerated when the officer activated emergency lights, accelerated again when the officer began sounding his siren, and only stopped when the officer used his PA system to tell him to stop by name.
Court documents claim the officer arrested Penhollow for fleeing police and driving after revocation, then searched the vehicle and found baggies with white residue, as well as a locked gun safe within reach of the driver’s seat.
Officers applied for and received permission to search the safe, and allegedly located more than 9 grams of a white crystalline substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a homemade pipe bomb.
The Freeborn County courthouse was evacuated for several hours Friday while the St. Paul bomb squad entered and removed the device from the law enforcement center.
Court documents claim police later searched Penhollow’s home and found a revolver, a stockless rifle with sound suppressor, shotgun, rifle, and shotgun ammunition, a CO2 container “used as an explosive device,” another explosive device, “cartridge reloading equipment,” and a partially home-built Sten submachine gun.
According to court documents, Penhollow has a prior drug possession conviction, as well as open court cases where he entered guilty pleas to 5th-degree drug possession; committing a crime while wearing a bullet-resistant vest; possession of a short-barreled shotgun; and DWI in Mower and Olmsted Counties.
Penhollow’s next court appearance on the July 5 charges is scheduled for the 18th.
His sentencing on the Mower and Olmsted charges is scheduled for July 22.