MASON CITY — A convicted felon whose probation was revoked and suspended prison sentence ordered imposed last year is back behind bars after a suspicious-person call in Mason City.
Police encountered 40-year-old Christopher Robin Quam (pictured at top) at approximately 6:33 p.m. September 4 after authorities received a report of a suspicious person, vehicle or other activity at 39 Westview Drive.
The encounter ended with Quam’s arrest on allegations of interference with official acts without injury or damage, disorderly conduct involving abusive epithets or a threatening gesture, and a pedestrian failing to use a crosswalk.
The available police log did not describe what Quam allegedly said or did, explain why officers approached him or provide additional details about the alleged crosswalk violation.
Quam was booked into the Cerro Gordo County Jail at 7:13 p.m. and assigned to Intake-Dorm 1.
Jail records listed separate $300 cash-or-surety bonds on the disorderly conduct and pedestrian charges. The interference charge carried a $0 bond entry.
The minor-looking collection of new charges comes against the backdrop of a recent felony drug conviction, an impaired-driving conviction and a failed term of probation.
Bremer County court records show Quam pleaded guilty in May 2024 to possession of a controlled substance as a third or subsequent offense, a Class D felony. The offense was connected to a January 1, 2024, case.
A judge imposed a five-year prison sentence but initially suspended it, along with a $1,025 fine. Quam was placed on probation for up to five years and ordered into a residential correctional facility for as long as 180 days or until he achieved maximum benefits.
Quam also pleaded guilty in the same case to first-offense operating while intoxicated, a serious misdemeanor. He received two days in jail, a $1,250 fine and probation lasting between three and five years. The sentence was ordered to run concurrently with the felony drug sentence.
A second felony drug count was later dismissed by the court.
Quam’s opportunity to avoid prison did not last.
The Iowa Department of Corrections filed a probation-violation report in October 2024 and requested a warrant. A judge ordered a $5,000 cash-only bench warrant after revocation proceedings began.
Court records indicate the proceedings continued for several months. In April 2025, Quam entered a negotiated guilty plea to violating probation and consented to revocation and imposition of a prison sentence.
The court revoked and terminated his probation. The record says the previously suspended period of incarceration was imposed and ordered to run concurrently with a separate Cerro Gordo County felony case.
Quam is presumed innocent of the new Mason City charges unless proven guilty in court. His earlier Bremer County convictions are established court dispositions.