Charge: Man broke into Minnesota Capitol through door he propped open hours earlier

The man who broke into the State Capitol last weekend before twice returning to the grounds did so by sneaking in through a door he propped open hours earlier while in the building during regular hours, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

Dominic T. Peace, 36, of Minneapolis was charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree burglary in connection with security finding him naked Friday inside the Senate chamber. He was taken to a hospital for mental health evaluations and ultimately arrested Saturday after returning to the Capitol grounds a third time.

Peace remains jailed ahead of a court hearing on Wednesday. Court records do not list an attorney for him.

The charge comes one day after officials said they intend to hire an independent expert to conduct a security assessment of the Capitol complex in St. Paul, following the June 14 killings of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, along with Peace’s alleged forays into the Capitol. The alleged shooter, Vance Boelter, is in federal custody on murder and other charges.

According to Tuesday’s complaint and the State Patrol:

Security guards found Peace about 11:15 p.m. Friday. He was naked, seated in the Senate president’s chair and holding an envelope that he said contained money.

Peace said he was the governor as he “stared to the back of the room in a way leading the officers to think he was in an altered state of mind,” the complaint read. He said the Capitol was his house and he’s lived there his entire life.

A state trooper saw the area where Peace was found had been rummaged through, and desk drawers were left open. His clothes were found in a women’s bathroom, where there was standing water on the floor. It appeared he had bathed there.

Law enforcement’s review of surveillance video showed Peace in the Capitol shortly before 2 p.m. Friday, when the building was open to the public. About 30 minutes later, he was seen in the Capitol holding a wooden wedge, then no longer holding it.

“It appears Peace used the wedge to prop open an exterior mechanical [room] door that allowed him to gain entry to the Capitol after hours that evening,” the complaint noted.

Peace returned to the Capitol at 9:47 p.m. Friday and got inside through the mechanical room door. He went into the women’s bathroom, emerged naked about 40 minutes later and walked up to the second floor.

After Peace left Regions, he was discovered on the Capitol grounds for a second time about 7:30 a.m. Saturday and again taken to Regions for a mental health evaluation, State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic said in a statement.

After his arrest, Peace denied those were his clothes found in the women’s bathroom.

Court records show other criminal cases pending against Peace.

On July 22, he was accused of shoplifting about $150 in merchandise at the Target in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood, according to the charges. On July 11, store personnel ordered him off the property and told him not to return for a year.

On May 30, police found Peace in downtown St. Paul asleep in an SUV he stole the previous day in Minneapolis, a complaint alleges.