Jan. 3—An Albert Lea man was charged in Freeborn County District Court on Tuesday with multiple charges, including a count of second-degree drug possession, stemming from a traffic stop on Saturday.

In addition to the felony drug charge, Jacob Alan Gardner, 35, was charged with gross misdemeanor obstructing the legal process, two counts of misdemeanor third-degree cannabis possession, one count of misdemeanor fleeing a peace officer and one count of misdemeanor driving after revocation.

According to court documents, an Albert Lea police officer attempted to pull over the vehicle Gardner was driving on Saturday afternoon. Gardner was reportedly slow to stop once the officer activated his lights but eventually pulled over in a gravel parking lot near West Front Street and South Washington Avenue.

Court documents state as soon as the vehicle stopped, Gardner’s door opened and he stepped out. The officer told Gardner to get back in the car, and Gardner then reportedly fled on foot westbound. The officer had recently arrested Gardner and knew he had a revoked driver’s license.

The officer reportedly yelled at him to get into the car or he would be tased. Court documents state the officer had known Gardner to possess firearms, flee and escape from custody,

The officer reportedly continued ordering Gardner to get on the ground and eventually deployed his taser, and Gardner fell to the ground. It was later determined that the probes never made contact with Gardner.

After this, Gardner reportedly continued to resist arrest until a backup officer could arrive.

When the officer went to retrieve his taser, he noticed a large quantity of a white crystalline substance under where their earlier struggle had taken place, along with a used meth pipe and Gardner’s car keys.

Because of the suspected methamphetamine they had found and after seeing marijuana through the window of the vehicle, officers searched the vehicle and found a duffle bag with 15 large bags of marijuana inside that were tied shut with a knot. Each bag had about one ounce of marijuana in it, and the marijuana totaled 0.965 pounds.

They also found 19 boxes of marijuana concentrate inside the bag, which weighed a total of 68.4 grams.

The meth weighed about 27.44 grams.

Freeborn County District Court Judge Christy Hormann set Gardner’s bail at $100,000 without conditions and $75,000 with conditions.

Gardner is next slated to appear in court Jan. 11.