DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell charged with felony in Detroit Lakes burglary

A state senator from Woodbury faces a felony burglary charge after authorities say she broke into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes, Minn., home, and claimed she was retrieving her late father’s ashes and other sentimental items.

Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmaker, was arrested early Monday morning after police found her inside the home, according to charging documents filed Tuesday in Becker County District Court.

The charges say the senator told arresting officers that her father, Rod Mitchell, had recently died and her stepmother had stopped communicating with family members. She said she wanted her late father’s ashes, and belongings including pictures, a flannel shirt and other items of sentimental value.

According to the charges:

At around 4:45 a.m. Monday, Detroit Lakes police responded to a 911 call from a woman reporting a burglary of her home in the 700 block of Granger Road. When officers arrived, they searched the house and found a person inside.

Officers then arrested Mitchell, 49, who while being detained told the stepmother “something to the effect of” she was “just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore.”

The senator was dressed in all-black clothing and was wearing a black hat. Officers also discovered a flashlight in a sock covering, which court documents said appeared to be intended to reduce the amount of light that it would emit.

Mitchell told police she had made the roughly 200-mile drive from Woodbury to Detroit Lakes starting at around 1 a.m. Sunday morning, court documents said. She admitted to entering her stepmother’s home through a basement window where she had left a backpack containing her driver’s license, two laptop computers and a cellphone.

The stepmother initially reported hearing someone break into her home who ran and hid in the basement.

“Clearly I’m not good at this,” Mitchell allegedly told officers, later adding she knew “she did something bad.”

While questioning Mitchell in jail, officers opened one of the laptops, and when it powered up, the name of Mitchell’s stepmother appeared on the screen. Mitchell told officers she had received the laptop from the homeowner in the past, something the stepmother denied.

Booked into jail

Mitchell was booked into the Becker County Jail early Monday morning on suspicion of first-degree burglary. She made her first court appearance Tuesday morning.

Judge Gretchen Thilmony set Mitchell’s bail at $40,000 with no conditions, or no bail on the condition she remains in Minnesota unless cleared by the court and does not contact her stepmother. Mitchell’s attorney, Bruce Ringstrom Sr., said his client took release with the conditions.

First-degree burglary is a felony offense with a minimum punishment of six months in jail or a county workhouse, a maximum of 20 years imprisonment, a $35,000 fine, or both. Mitchell faces the severest burglary charge in Minnesota statute because someone was home at the time of the alleged break-in.

Mitchell is a first-term state senator elected in 2022. She worked as a meteorologist with the U.S. military and for KSTP-TV and Minnesota Public Radio before she was elected to the Senate.

Mitchell still serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, commanding a weather unit, her official profile says. She worked for the Weather Channel earlier in her career, her profile says.

She represents Senate District 47, which includes Woodbury and southern parts of Maplewood.

‘Tough family situation’

Mitchell’s burglary charge comes a little more than a year after the death of her father. In January, a judge awarded her stepmother 100% of the father’s $172,931 estate.

In a post on Facebook, Mitchell said she was checking on her stepmother and denied stealing anything. She said she had visited the home “countless times” over the last 20 years, and that her son had a room there at one point.

Ringstrom said his client made a “poor choice” in how she handled her concerns, but did so while under a lot of stress.

“She was dealing with a tough family situation and it exploded on her,” he said.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the stepmother said she is afraid of Mitchell. Most of her husband’s ashes were buried, she told the AP, but she sent Mitchell a small container.

Threat to DFL majority in Senate?

DFLers have 34 seats in the Senate, compared with the 33 held by Republicans. If Mitchell can’t return to the Capitol, Democrats may have trouble passing partisan legislation between now and the end of session later next month.

For now, however, it appears Mitchell will be able to continue working at the Capitol.

In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said she was upset by the allegations against Mitchell and said difficult conversations lie ahead between Mitchell and her colleagues, constituents and family.

“The behavior alleged is far outside the character she has established in the Senate and in her distinguished career in the military,” Murphy said. “We believe in due process, and Senator Mitchell has the right to a full defense of her case in court.”

Minnesota Republican leaders on Tuesday called for Mitchell to resign.

“I understand the difficult situation her family is facing, however the actions taken by Sen. Mitchell are disturbing,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said in a statement. “The complaint released by the Becker County Attorney lays out the case of a person who took extensive preparation to burglarize a family member’s home.”