Crime & Safety

Man Charged with Domestic Assault of Eagan Woman

Michael Damien Mitchell is charged with strangling the victim and pulling out clumps of her hair.

A Burnsville man has been arrested for domestic assault by strangulation after an Eagan woman says he ripped out clumps of her hair, put his hands around her neck and tried to strangle her.

Michael Damien Mitchell, 28, faces a felony count of domestic assault by strangulation, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. He is also charged with misdemeanor domestic assault, which has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Mitchell was arrested Monday in Hastings on a warrant, which was issued June 20 after he failed to appear at a scheduled hearing.

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According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police were called to a home on Lodestone Lane on March 22 by the victim, who said Mitchell was ripping out clumps of her hair and that she was having difficulty breathing.

The victim told police that she would leave the phone line open, but no one responded to questions, and dispatchers heard what sounded like a struggle before the call was disconnected, according to the complaint.

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The first officer to arrive heard muffled voices, and as he came around a corner, he found Mitchell crouched on the floor and holding the victim in a headlock, the complaint says. The officer ordered Mitchell to release her and show his hands; when he refused, the officer threatened to use a taser unless he released the victim, according to the complaint.

Mitchell released the victim, and the officer held him at taser point until another officer arrived and arrested Mitchell.

The victim was out of breath, holding her neck and crying, according to the complaint. She told police that Mitchell had become angry and began pushing her around in a bedroom, continuing in the living room, where she ended up on the floor.

The victim told police that she was lying on her back on the floor, and Mitchell was on top of her with his hands around her neck, strangling her with both his hands and his legs. She said she was having a hard time breathing.

“Officers observed numerous clumps of hair on the ground in the residence,” the complaint says. “The hair was consistent with (the victim’s) hair and not Mitchell’s. (The victim) also had numerous scratches and other injuries.”

Mitchell admitted to police that he had been arguing with the victim, and that he had pulled her hair and bitten her, but he said he did it in retaliation “for what she did to him,” according to the complaint.

Mitchell remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $10,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for July 18 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.


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