Richfield Man Charged with Breaking Into Ex-Wife's Home

A Richfield man has been charged with burglary and violating a protection order after authorities say he broke into his ex-wife’s home in Hastings, MN and stole a collapsible baton.

Stephen Alan Swenson, 55, faces a felony charge of second-degree burglary, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, and a gross misdemeanor charge of violating a protection order, which has a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the complaint, filed in Dakota County District Court, Hastings Police received a report just before 6:30 a.m. July 7 of a suspicious man who appeared to have broken into a home.

A witness told police that she had seen her neighbor leave for a morning run. After she left, the witness said, a man who had been lurking in the bushes went inside the home, came out carrying a small bag and drove away in a green Honda Accord.

The witness told police that she recognized the man as Swenson, her neighbor’s ex-husband.

Police found no signs of forced entry at the victim’s home. When she returned from her run, she told police that the man who had gone into her house was probably her ex-husband, who drives a green Honda Accord.

She said Swenson was “very aware” of her habits and knows her schedule very well, and that she doesn’t usually lock her door when she runs. She told police that she has a protection order against Swenson, which also prohibits him from being in the neighborhood.

The victim checked her home and told police that a black, 20-inch, expandable baton was missing.

Police met with Swenson on July 8 and asked him where he was the morning before. He initially denied being in Hastings that morning, but subsequently admitted that he was in his ex-wife’s home, according to the complaint. He told police that he was there with the victim’s consent.

Swenson admitted to police that he had parked his car around the corner so neighbors wouldn’t recognize it, according to the complaint.

Swenson was convicted earlier this summer of violating the protection order against his ex-wife.

Swenson remains in the Dakota County Jail in Hastings on a $40,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for Aug. 8.