A Democratic Minnesota State senator who was recently arrested and charged with first-degree burglary has offered an interesting defense of her actions after being caught breaking into her stepmother’s residence in Detroit Lakes.

The incident surprised many, especially members of the state legislature, some of whom have called for her resignation.

State Sen. Nicole Mitchell, 49, after being charged, wrote a post on Facebook in which she claimed she broke into the home to check on a “loved one” who suffered from Alzheimer’s.

Over the weekend, I learned of medical information which caused me grave concern and prompted me to check on that family member. I entered a home I have come and gone from countless times in the past 20 years, where my son even once had his own room.

Unfortunately, I startled this close relative, exacerbating paranoia, and I was accused of stealing, which I absolutely deny.

The lawmaker said the incident “has been a true tragedy for our family and my hope is it can return to being a private matter.”

Mitchell’s explanation for her actions appears to contradict the facts of the case. She was found in the home after her stepmother called the police. The lawmaker was dressed in black and had taken a laptop and other items that had belonged to her deceased father.

State Sen. Nicole Mitchell, 49, was arrested at the residence after the homeowner, the lawmaker’s stepmother, contacted the authorities around 4:45 a.m. on Monday.

Mitchell was formally charged with one count of first-degree burglary, according to a complaint shared with The Hill and filed Tuesday. Mitchell, a former meteorologist and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, is serving her first term in the Minnesota Senate after being elected in 2022.

According to the complaint, police received reports that someone had broken into a residence and the person had run into the basement.

The police found Mitchell, who was dressed in all black clothing and a black hat, in the basement of the house, according to the complaint. The complaint states Mitchell told officers the victim was her stepmother, who cut off contact from her and her family after Mitchell’s father died.

“I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore,” she told her stepmother during her arrest, according to the complaint.

She was trying to get items of her late father’s, including “pictures, a flannel shirt, ashes, and other items of sentimental value,” the complaint states.

At one point, Mitchell commented that “clearly I’m not good at this” after officers searched her backpack. The officers found a laptop with her stepmother’s name on it that Mitchell said was given to her by the stepmother, who denied giving it to her.

The complaint reportedly notes that Mitchell told her stepmother during the arrest that she “was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore.”

The complaint said one of the laptops found in the lawmaker’s backpack belonged to her stepmother. Mitchell claimed her stepmother had given her the computer, a statement the stepmother denies.

The lawmaker is in her first term in office, having been elected to the state Senate in 2022, and was previously a meteorologist.