Woman testifies about 'cat-and-mouse game' in attempted murder trial

County prosecutor Trinity Muth stood behind the podium with his right arm extended, pointing to the court chamber doors with a hand flat, thumb out and pointer finger directed at the wall. Fighting back tears, Dooley displayed her right arm outward at her side, thumb pointed toward Muth and finger in the jury’s face.

Dooley said she saw Lindsay, the father of her children, approach her from behind on the highway. She said he then got parallel with her in a black Chevrolet Tahoe and frantically told her to pull over, sparking a “cat-and-mouse game” of slowing down and speeding up as she tried to get away from him. Dooley testified that the “game” became violent when Lindsay pulled a gun out of the center console and shot at her.

She recalled calling 911 after Lindsay pulled up on the other side her car and shot at her a second time. The glass struck her face through her passenger window, according to a police report.

“I still love him,” she said in tears on the stand. “I know I shouldn’t, but I do. After that, I couldn’t (try to work out the relationship) anymore.”

Upon hearing testimonies from responding officers, Muth played body camera footage from Riley County Police Department Sgt. Ryan Doehling. The video showed Doehling pulling onto a median on K-18 near Seth Child Road in Manhattan.

Another officer had already handcuffed Lindsay near his Chevy Tahoe. Doehling approached a Lindsay with his gun drawn but not pointed at him. Lindsay, who had called 911 about a minute after Dooley with allegation that she shot at him, directed Doehling to a GMC Yukon nearby.

Doehling approached the vehicle and discovered a sobbing woman with a wound above her eyebrow dripping blood on her shirt and right forearm. The footage showed a dent in the passenger-side door and the shattered glass. Muth asked Doehling to explain how they knew it to be a projectile, or bullet, that traveled through the glass and he said he knew because of his training.

Doehling demonstrated how bullets pancake when hitting solid surfaces at a “high velocity,” then pointed to a smooth half circle near the bottom edges of the broken glass. The defense argued that a higher break on the window looked similar to the circle he described. Lindsay’s attorney asked whether that could be because of some angled windows toward the top of cars.

“You could make that assumption,” Doehling said.

Doehling told Muth he had training in bullet impacts and explained what happens to a bullet when it meets hard and wet surfaces. In the body cam footage, the court room could hear Doehling tell his fellow officers about the wet paint chips that indicated a fresh impact.

The defense asked Doehling whether he specializes in bullet trajectory. Doehling replied, “I do not.” The attorney questioned the extent of Doehling’s bullet impact training.

“We fire into standard vehicles and pickup trucks,” Doehling answered. “I have not (fired into any GMC Yukons).”

Doehling also testified to finding gun shot residue in Lindsay’s passenger seat, and said he found a bullet fragment on the passenger seat floor in Dooley’s car. He said he also saw glass there and in the seat against the center console.

The shooting is one of two road rage incidents Dooley reported to police. The first occurred about four months prior.