Burnsville Police Nab Minneapolis Man on Drug, Weapons Charges

A Minneapolis man is facing drug and weapons charges after Burnsville police found him riding in the back seat of a car with a pistol on the floor at his feet and an infant in a car seat beside him.

Antoine Montrell Goodman, 20, is charged with first-degree possession of cocaine, being a felon in possession of a firearm and child endangerment.

The cocaine charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The felony weapons charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine, and the maximum penalty for the gross-misdemeanor child endangerment charge is a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint against Goodman, filed in Dakota County District Court in Hastings, Burnsville police stopped a car Monday evening because of a malfunctioning light. While officers spoke to the driver, they recognized the passenger in the rear seat as Goodman, whom they knew to have “past arrests for violent offenses, obstructing and armed robbery.”

“Officers also knew that the driver associated with persons in the past who had been arrested for crimes of violence and robbery,” the complaint notes.

In addition to the driver and Goodman, there was a female passenger in the front seat and an infant in a car seat next to Goodman.

“As officers spoke to the defendant about not wearing his seat belt, the defendant told officers that his window would not roll down,” the complaint says. “Officers noticed that the defendant was wearing loose, baggy clothing and had a large sweatshirt that covered his waist.

“The officers knew from their training and experience that persons who carry weapons often carry them about their waist and conceal them under loose, baggy clothing. When the rear door was opened to speak with the defendant, officers immediately noticed the butt of a pistol at the defendant’s feet.”

Officers ordered Goodman and the other vehicle occupants to put their hands on their heads, the complaint says. Instead, Goodman turned away and moved his hands to his waist, reaching into the pockets of his sweatshirt, according to the complaint.

After Goodman was handcuffed and taken out of the car, officers spotted two baggies that had been hidden under his leg, the complaint says. One contained “numerous pea-sized chunks, individually wrapped in plastic, which is consistent with the packaging of crack cocaine;” the other bag contained more than 25 grams of a white powder that appeared to be cocaine, according to the complaint.

Authorities checked on the .9-mm semi-automatic handgun, which was loaded with 15 live rounds, and determined that it was stolen.

Goodman’s criminal history includes convictions in Minnesota for theft, domestic assault and sale of drugs. He remains in the Dakota County Jail in Hastings on a $50,000 bond, with an omnibus hearing scheduled for June 6.