Local man arrested for threatening Lincoln EMT with gun

An ambulance call Sunday evening, May 15, led to the arrest of the man Lincoln EMTS were trying to help, after he allegedly pointed a loaded gun at one of them.

Dennis J. Doll of Lincoln was arrested on a felony charge with assault with a weapon after Emergency Services arrived at his residence about five miles east of town in response to a call that he had been on the floor having convulsions. According to court documents, Doll regained consciousness and began fighting with the EMTs who had responded to the call. He pulled away from the EMTs and went into his bedroom. A female EMT followed him into the room make sure he was OK due to his falling and convulsing several times. Doll then reportedly produced a firearm, racked a round into the chamber, pointed it at the EMT and told them all to get out of his house.

"It was quite disconcerting to the EMT there," Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton told the BVD.

Given Doll's aggressive and erratic behavior, the EMTs left the residence, leaving equipment behind. They met with Deputy Cody Colbert at the Lincoln Fire District's nearby Station 3 and reported what had happened.

A reasonable apprehension of bodily injury prompted Colbert and the other deputies who arrived on scene to create a perimeter around the house. They to contact Doll using the phone and the patrol vehicles PA system, to no avail.

"The determination to best handle it was to call out the SWAT team," Dutton said.

During the May 6 Government Day meeting, Dutton related an incident in the Helena Valley on May 5 and discussed how they use the SWAT team to negotiate with an armed individuals who wouldn't come out of a building, rather than going in after them.

Although an early media report purportedly claimed the confrontation involved a hostage, Dutton said it was never a hostage situation.

"There was a person who was armed in his home. He wasn't barricaded. But we couldn't take any chances he wouldn't shoot, either," he said.

The incident led to the closure of Highway 200 for about two hours as deputies tried to contact Doll. Dutton said Doll was arrested at about midnight after coming out of his house with his hands up. "He was taken into custody without any shots being fired on either side. He was taken and evaluated at St Peters hospital and was taken to our (detention) facility."

The arrest affidavit filed by Colbert indicates Doll has no prior assault convictions.