Duluth man charged after police find cocaine, guns, vest in home search

A search on Duluth’s west side uncovered 29.25 grams of cocaine, four firearms, cash and a bullet-resistant vest, evidence that pushed the case well beyond a routine drug arrest and into a higher-stakes felony prosecution for Patrick Anthony Homstad.

Investigators said the cocaine was hidden in a cupboard above a downstairs toilet in a home in the 200 block of West Arrowhead Road. They also reported finding a digital scale and packaging materials they believe point to distribution, not simple possession. In the same search, officers said they recovered a red Glock 10mm handgun in an upstairs bedroom and, in a basement wall safe, a Draco 7.62×39 handgun, a Canik 9mm handgun and a DB-15 300AAC rifle with a loaded magazine. A bullet-resistant vest was found nearby, and officers said they also located a handgun with an extended magazine and $2,560 in cash in Homstad’s vehicle.

Homstad, 35, faces first-degree drug sale and a charge for committing a crime while possessing a bullet-resistant vest. Under Minnesota law, first-degree cocaine sale can be charged when 17 grams or more are sold within 90 days, or when 10 grams or more are involved if a firearm is possessed or used in connection with the offense. The vest-related statute separately makes it a felony to commit a gross misdemeanor or felony while wearing or possessing a bullet-resistant vest, a charge that can bring up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The City of Duluth said the warrant was executed April 23 by the Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force, the Duluth Police Department and partner agencies, under case number 26047265. Ashley Ferguson, 30, was also arrested on a warrant and pending child endangerment charges.

The complaint says Homstad was already on pre-trial release for DWI charges, and investigators believe he had previously been a suspect in cases involving Chicago-based gang members and narcotics sales in the Twin Ports. That history, along with the guns, cash and vest, gives prosecutors more than a simple possession case to weigh as the matter moves through St. Louis County court.

The Lake Superior Violent Offender Task Force is a multiagency effort serving Northeast Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin, and Duluth police say it focuses on violent crime, illegal firearms, violent offenders and controlled substances. In January, the city said a separate task force investigation targeted members and associates of the Black P Stone street gang operating in the Duluth-Superior area, underscoring how local drug cases continue to overlap with broader regional trafficking and gang enforcement efforts.