Hibbing man pleads guilty to burglary, assault in two cases

A Hibbing man admitted Friday to breaking into a home, assaulting two people inside and violating a domestic abuse no-contact order, a plea that moves one of the region’s more complicated violent cases toward sentencing while another case tied to his escape remains open in Duluth.

Michael Todd Hart, 41, pleaded guilty before Judge Michelle Anderson in Sixth District Court to felony first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling, misdemeanor fifth-degree assault and gross misdemeanor violation of a domestic abuse no-contact order. Sentencing is set for June 18, 2026, at 3:30 p.m., and Hart was remanded to the Commissioner of Corrections to begin serving what the case describes as his presumed prison sentence.

The burglary case centers on a home invasion in which Hart broke into a residence and assaulted two people inside. During that break-in, Hart was shot in the abdomen, adding another layer of violence to a case that already reached beyond a simple property crime and into a direct threat to the safety of the people in the home.

The second case added a different kind of court violation. Prosecutors said Hart was found with someone who had an active domestic abuse no-contact order against him, placing him back in front of the court system on a separate charge tied to protective-order enforcement. St. Louis County Attorney Kim Maki’s office said the Hibbing Police Department and Minnesota State Patrol helped investigate both cases.

The plea brings the burglary, assault and DANCO matters closer to resolution, but Hart’s broader court history is still unfolding. His separate escape case from the Northeast Regional Corrections Center in Saginaw remains pending in state district court in Duluth, a reminder that his name has circulated through northern Minnesota courtrooms and law enforcement agencies for months.

Hart escaped from the Northeast Regional Corrections Center on the evening of Sept. 23, 2025, while serving time on charges that included felony burglary, misdemeanor domestic assault and fifth-degree assault. He was captured on Oct. 7, 2025, in Cohasset. He later spent 106 days in the Itasca County Jail before being released in early February after a warrant was quashed. St. Louis County later said it obtained a separate escape warrant, increased bail and sought to keep him in custody.

For Hibbing and nearby Iron Range communities, the guilty plea marks progress in one set of cases involving burglary, assault and a domestic-abuse protection order. It also leaves one of Hart’s other criminal matters unresolved as sentencing approaches in St. Louis County.