Eagan Police Arrest Man After He Threatened to "Blow Up the World"

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A Minneapolis man who was overheard yelling threats to “blow up the world” into his cell phone in Eagan has been charged with illegally possessing a .357 Magnum handgun.

Benjamin Powell, 23, is charged with possession of a firearm by an ineligible person who was previously convicted of a violent crime. The charge is a felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. 

According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police were called to the Cedar Grove transit station on Oct. 21 after someone reported a man yelling into his cell phone that he was going to “blow up the world.” 

Police found the man, subsequently identified as Powell, who acknowledged that he had been having a “heated discussion” on the phone with his mother.

Police asked Powell if they could search him to make sure he didn’t have any explosives, and Powell consented.

Officers found a .357 Magnum in Powell’s backpack, according to the complaint.

Powell’s criminal record includes a 2008 conviction for first-degree burglary.  Anyone convicted of a crime of violence is prohibited from possessing firearms.

Powell remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $30,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Nov. 20 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.