DETROIT LAKES — According to Becker County Dispatch transcripts of the 911 call made in the Sen. Nicole Mitchell burglary case in Detroit Lakes, Mitchell’s stepmother “tripped over” the intruder, who “was on the floor next to my bed,” before the intruder — allegedly Mitchell — fled down the stairs to the basement.
During the call, Mitchell's stepmother reported that she did not get a look at the intruder at all, saying “it was completely dark.”
She called 911, armed herself with a steak knife, and stayed on the line with the dispatcher for a short time until police arrived, according to the transcripts.
The transcripts end with an unidentified police officer apparently shouting down the basement stairs: “Police officer! Make yourself known!”
The incident occurred early Monday morning, and Mitchell was arrested after being found in the basement of her stepmother’s house.
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According to court records, Mitchell told police that her father had recently died and that her stepmother had ceased all contact with her and other family members.
Mitchell said she wanted some belongings of her father’s and that her stepmother refused to give them to her. She described them as pictures, a flannel shirt, ashes, and other items of sentimental value. Mitchell admitted to driving her vehicle up from the Twin Cities and noted that she left Woodbury around 1 a.m. Monday.
She told an officer that she got into the house through a basement window. At the jail, an officer asked what got Mitchell “to this stage,” and she indicated that it was her father’s ashes. She said she previously got into an argument with her stepmother and they stopped speaking.
She told police she was there to retrieve items of sentimental value from her deceased father, and that she has difficulty communicating with her stepmother because of her stepmother’s medical issues.
Bruce Ringstrom Jr., a member of Mitchell’s legal team, sent this email to the Detroit Lakes Tribune on Thursday afternoon with statements from Mitchell and her legal team.
Mitchell’s statement read:
“While I cannot elaborate more at the advice of counsel, I can say I am extremely disappointed that the complaint lacks the complete information of the incident including important context, including that I have known the other person involved in this incident since I was four and care deeply about her. It saddens me that some people are attempting to use a tragic family situation to score political points, and I am grateful to those who believe, as I always have, that everyone should be allowed the due process guaranteed in our Constitution. I am confident that a much different picture will emerge when all of the facts are known. I am as committed to my constituents today as the day I was elected, including important work for veterans and children, and I do not intend to resign.”
Mitchell’s legal team’s statement read:
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“Senator Mitchell very much wants to address the specific accusations publicly, but understands that on our advice she must remain silent. Contrary to what has been said and written by others, there is effectively no actual evidence that has yet been made public. Litigating a criminal case correctly and justly takes time, and until those allegations are actually tested in a court of law — where the rules of evidence, the right of confrontation, and other components of due process are enforced — it is irresponsible to make hasty conclusions.”
The case has statewide interest because Mitchell, a Democrat, is the deciding vote in the closely divided Minnesota Senate.
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