Hermantown Coach Charged in Scott County for Purchasing Alcohol for Minors

A Hermantown High School assistant golf coach has been criminally charged in connection with providing alcohol to minors while in Shakopee for the state golf tournament.

Kyle Gordan Ernst, 26, is facing one count of gross misdemeanor furnishing alcohol to someone under the age of 21.

According to the Scott County criminal complaint filed Friday morning:

At around 3 a.m. June 14, a Shakopee police officer was inside and noticed a male and three females near the lottery machine. A Cub Foods employee went over to make sure the age of the male purchasing tickets was at least 18 and then came back and told the officer that although the man was 18, he smelled like alcohol.

The officer was going to approach the man who was leaving when another employee told him a fifth member of the party was still in the store. The officer then spoke to that boy, a 17-year-old, whose eyes were watery and bloodshot. The teen took an alcohol breath test given by the officer, which detected he had been drinking. The teen then told the officer he was with his team for the high school state golf tournament staying at the .

The officer transported the teen to the hotel, and the teen led the officer to his room. The officer saw the man who had been at Cub Foods earlier coming out of a room, smelled alcohol on his breath and gave him a breath test, which also detected the man had been drinking. There were two other males in the hotel room who had not been drinking.

When the officer knocked at the coach's hotel door, no one answered. The officer then knocked on another hotel room door and Ernst quickly came out and shut the door behind him.

The officer told Ernst two of his golfers had been drinking alcohol. Ernst appeared very nervous and shaky and the officer noticed Ernst smelled like alcohol and asked him what was going on in the hotel room.

Ernst reportedly told police that many members of the golf team were very upset about losing the state tournament by one stroke. He said he wanted the team to have a "good time" and admitted he went to the store and purchased wine coolers and beer for them.

Another officer escorted Ernst to his room where a breath test indicated his alcohol concentration was .064, at which point .

The officer again knocked on the door where Ernst had been and a 17-year-old female answered, smelling of alcohol. The female failed a breath test and the officer noticed multiple empty beer cans in the room.

Ernst told police that he bought two 12-packs of beer – one for the team, one for the coaches – along with some wine coolers. He also said he drank a couple beers with the other coach and then went to the girls’ room where the team had gathered. He said he was in there for several hours while he and the team drank beer.

The complaint further says surveillance video from shows Ernst buying $62 of alcohol, including Bud Light, Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Michelob Golden Light. After paying for it, police say the video shows the clerk helping him carry the items to a blue van.

Ernst was booked into the and released Thursday morning.

Police said they also wrote tickets for underage alcohol consumption in connection with the incident. Those cited include an 18-year-old Duluth man, a 16-year-old boy from Duluth, and a 17-year-old Hermantown girl.

Reached by phone Thursday night, the coach told the Duluth News Tribune he had no comment on the arrest. 

Hermantown was participating in the Minnesota State Golf Tournament in Jordan this week, finishing second as a team in Class AA Wednesday.

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