A Red Wing man has been charged with an armed robbery attempt of a Trenton fireworks stand from last summer.

Taten Brooks New Holy, 25, was ordered to pay $5,000 cash bail Dec. 6 in Pierce County Circuit Court on felony attempted armed robbery and criminal damage to property charges. If convicted, the maximum penalty he faces is 20 years in prison and/or fines up to $50,000.

According to the complaint:

At 11:48 p.m. June 23, dispatch directed Pierce County sheriff’s deputies to the Woodshed Bar (N1090 825^th St., Hager City) in the town of Trenton for an armed robbery in progress. The complainant said there was a man inside a fireworks tent there who had pointed a gun at him and his brother.

When police arrived, they took cover behind a vehicle about 25 yards from the fireworks tent. They could see two men in the tent and the man later identified as New Holy was being confrontational. He also had his right hand in his sweatshirt pocket.

When officers gave verbal commands for the man to come out with his hands up, he turned to look at officers but didn’t acknowledge what they said. Eventually, both men came out of the tent. Victim 1 immediately complied with commands and got on the ground. The suspect was confrontational and told deputies to “f%#$ off” and that “he didn’t do shit.” Officers could see a heavy object in his sweatshirt pocket, but he refused to identify what it was. He finally told officers it was a Twisted Tea. He drank the contents of a bottle and smashed it onto the blacktop. Shortly after, he ran back into the fireworks tent, exited from the east side and sprinted into the woods.

One of the victims became confrontational with police when asked to get out of the way of the firing zone while police held the perimeter. He called the officer a “retard” and told him to go f#*& himself. Another deputy placed him in the backseat of a patrol vehicle.

The second victim told police New Holy had come into the tent to purchase fireworks and wanted a deal on them. When his brother said no, the suspect pulled out a silver Ruger .45 handgun and pointed it at both of them. He said he was able to talk the man down and his brother exited the tent. 

Victim 1 later told police New Holy had approached him around 11:30 p.m. and said he wanted to buy fireworks. He appeared to be somewhat intoxicated but wasn’t drinking anything at that moment. He and his brother showed him several different fireworks inside the tent, specifically the Roman candles. He said New Holy said something like, “that’s not real firepower, this is real firepower,” reached into his sweatshirt and brandished a firearm.

He said a short time later, New Holy handed them $40 to pay for some of the fireworks. He said New Holy then pulled out the firearm, racked it as he was pushing it into his head and told them to get out of the tent. Victim 1 didn’t have his cell phone, so he ran from the tent into the Woodshed to use a phone

The bartender on duty that night told police that she saw New Holy behind the bar near the smoking area when she arrived around 9 p.m. She said he had been there the night before with some other people and that he’d told her he’d moved from South Dakota to the area. However, he didn’t enter the bar that Friday night. He appeared to be there by himself and started talking to the two men from the fireworks stand around 11:30 p.m.

On June 25, Victim 2 contacted PCSO to report he’d found a cell phone under a table in the tent, believed to belong to New Holy. The phone did in fact belong to New Holy, so police took it into custody as evidence. It’s unclear from the complaint when and where New Holy was apprehended.

The victims reported several fireworks had been damaged by New Holy, totaling about $390. They could not be resold as the wrapping had been ripped off and torn.

New Holy is scheduled for preliminary hearing at 4 p.m. Dec. 15 in Pierce County Circuit Court.