A man pleaded not guilty on four felonies in Linn County on January 14th after law enforcement reported finding him in a stolen vehicle from Wisconsin in the Walmart Supercenter parking lot in Brookfield on January 14th.
Twenty-eight-year-old Adrian Joe was arraigned, and the case was continued to February 4th. He has been charged with receiving stolen property, tampering with a motor vehicle—first degree, resisting or interfering with an arrest for a felony, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
A probable cause statement from Tom Bunnell with the Brookfield Police Department says a subject, later identified as Joe, appeared to be sleeping in the back seat of the sport utility vehicle when law enforcement arrived on the scene. Joe is accused of refusing to follow commands from officers and refusing to exit the vehicle. Bunnell reports an officer broke the left rear window with his baton, and the suspect pulled away as officers tried to pull him through the broken window.
Bunnell found a nine-millimeter handgun in a red holster in the vehicle. The officer says the gun was loaded with bullets in the magazine, but there was not one in the chamber.
Joe advised he was homeless. When checking criminal records, law enforcement found he had an active warrant from Minnesota for forcible burglary of a residence, an active warrant from Utah for vehicle theft, and active warrants from Iowa for aggravated assault with a weapon and parole violator. He also had prior felony convictions in Iowa for possession of a controlled substance, prevention of apprehension/obstruction of prosecution, one misdemeanor conviction for burglary, and 13 felony convictions from burglary. Joe also has convictions in Minnesota for burglary, Wyoming for vehicle theft, and Wisconsin for burglary.
