Prosecutors have added a second felony charge against the Woodbury DFL senator accused of breaking into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home last April, a move her attorney says could possibly push back her trial into the next legislative session.

An amended criminal complaint filed against Nicole Mitchell on Monday in Becker County District Court charges the first-term lawmaker with possession of burglary or theft tools, alleging she used a crow bar to pry open a basement at the home in the early morning hours of April 22. Mitchell, 50, pleaded not guilty in August to a burglary charge, and a jury trial is scheduled to start June 16.

Detroit Lakes police officers arrested Mitchell in the basement of the home, and she later told them she was there to retrieve her late father’s ashes and other sentimental items, according to the original complaint.

Mitchell’s attorney, Bruce Ringstrom Jr., said Monday that “the best I can tell” the amended complaint is in “response to the judge’s order that the government has to put Sen. Mitchell on notice of what she’s accused of doing inside the house.”

“Up until that point, they had not told Sen. Mitchell or us what they were accusing her of allegedly intending to do inside the residence,” he said.

Ringstrom noted the amended complaint does not include the allegation from Mitchell’s stepmother that she did not give Mitchell one of the laptops found in her backpack outside the home.

The amended complaint could cause the June 16 jury trial date to “get completely wiped off the calendar,” Ringstrom said, adding that she “probably will have to be arraigned again and have to go through the process on that new charge anew.”

“They could technically force this jury trial all the way into the next legislative session,” he said. “And I don’t understand why they would want to do that, unless they have a witness problem.”

Republicans and some DFLers have called for Mitchell’s resignation. A motion to expel her failed last month on a tie vote.

‘Dad’s things’

According to the charges, police responded to a 911 call of a burglary at the home in the 700 block of Granger Road around 4:45 a.m. April 22. The senator, who was dressed in all-black clothing and wearing a black hat, was found in the basement.

Nicole Mitchell (Courtesy of the Becker County Sheriff’s Office)

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.

The amended complaint says Mitchell, while being detained, told the stepmother, “Carol, it’s Nicole. I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore.”

Mitchell’s 72-year-old father, Roderick Mitchell, died March 19, 2023. In January 2024, a judge awarded the senator’s stepmother, Carol Mitchell, 100% of his nearly $173,000 estate.

The complaint also gives new details on comments Mitchell reportedly said after she was taken into custody.

“I have never done anything like this,” she said, according to the complaint. “You are going to find out I am a military commander for God’s sake.” She then reiterated, “there were just a couple things of my dad’s I wanted to come get.”

Mitchell was elected in 2022 and represents Senate District 47, which includes Woodbury and southern parts of Maplewood. She still serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, commanding a weather unit, her official Senate profile says.

As Mitchell was being walked out of the home by an officer, she stated “well obviously I’m not good at this,” the complaint states. After being read her Miranda rights at the squad car, the senator first said, “I’m just hoping, um, this mistake won’t completely (expletive) up my life,” then added, “I know I did something bad.”

Crowbar found

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

After Mitchell’s arrest, the stepmother called law enforcement later that morning and said she had found an item in an egress window. An officer returned to the home and collected a blue crowbar and placed it into evidence, the amended complaint says.

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Police Chief Steven Todd, along with a sergeant and investigator, returned to the home three days later and determined the small sliding basement window where Mitchell’s backpack “was shoved was too small for a human to fit through,” the complaint says. “The officers determined that the larger egress window, next to where the crowbar was discovered, was (Mitchell’s) most probable point of entry.”

The investigator also noted faint pry marks on the egress window, and loose dirt around the window sill and on the desk inside of the window.

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 her stepmother in the past, something the stepmother denied, the original complaint says.