Attorneys find ‘workaround’ to sentence man for invading home with gun in search of grandson

A man who broke into a Spokane Valley home in May while looking for his runaway grandson and wielding a handgun has been sentenced to a year of house arrest.

The gun belonging to Michael R. Dooley, 60, went off during a struggle with the homeowner’s son, but no one was struck by the bullet.

Spokane County deputy prosecuting attorney Steve Garvin noted sentencing Dooley to electronic home monitoring for assault and burglary charges involved a “workaround” because state law says it should not be imposed for violent offenders.

Dooley has no felony criminal record, however, according to court documents, and the one-year sentence is technically within the standard range of punishment.

The victims in the case, who initially said six months of house arrest satisfied them, said they changed their minds about recommending a light sentence and that prosecutors did not follow their wishes.

“I have never experienced something so terrifying in my life,” homeowner Sandra Jameson said. “I will never forget the look in his eyes like he wanted to kill me.”

Dooley said in court Tuesday that his daughter, Mekel Colantuoni, told him her son got into trouble with drugs at Central Valley High School at the end of May and ran way. They visited four houses on May 31, including Jameson’s, but came up empty, and so did police.

Jameson and her son, Connor Baum, had never met Dooley, but Dooley’s grandson was friends with Jameson’s younger son, according to Jameson.

Dooley said Colantuoni received a tip later that night that her son was at Jameson’s house.

At nearly 11 p.m., Dooley forced his way into Jameson’s home on the 2300 block of South Best Road with Colantuoni, looking for his grandson, according to court documents.

Baum told police that Dooley punched him in the face when he said he couldn’t come inside, according to court documents. He said Dooley drew his gun when he pushed him off the porch and that they struggled over the revolver.

Jameson said Dooley pushed her down multiple times after she broke up the fight and when she went to call 911. She said he pointed the gun at her while she tried to explain that the grandson had been there but left, and then he aimed the gun at her daughter when the daughter tried to call 911.

“I knew he was here!” Dooley said, according to court documents.

Baum said he tackled Dooley. According to court documents, they struggled over the gun in a back bedroom. Jameson said she tried to grab the gun herself. Her daughter said Dooley tried to point the gun at Baum.

“It seemed like forever,” Jameson said in court.

Then the gun went off, firing a bullet through her daughter’s bed, according to Jameson.

Dooley and his daughter fled when Baum and Jameson grabbed the gun, according to Jameson.

“I fought that man for my life trying to save my mom and sister’s life,” Baum said. “And he pulled the trigger.”

Police noted that Dooley was intoxicated when they contacted him at his home on the 1500 block of East 24th Avenue, according to court testimony.

Dooley told deputies he had taken a few shots of whiskey before the incident and claimed Baum was the one who had the gun, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies seized another gun that Dooley said he had during the incident.

Baum said he smelled alcohol on Dooley’s breath when he came through the door. But Dooley’s attorney claimed the defendant only had a few drinks after the incident because he was “shaken up.”

“I am thankful that no one was hurt,” Dooley said during a statement in court.

He said he can no longer work as a commercial driver, has two teenagers at home and his wife died from cancer a few years ago.

“This has been a nightmare,” he said.

In order for Dooley to be placed in home detention, he received a deferred one-year prison sentence and will earn credit for time served at home. He also lost the right to own firearms and earned a “strike” for the second-degree assault charges.

“This is a difficult case,” said Garvin, the prosecutor who inherited the case and a previous plea offer earlier this year. “I do strongly support this settlement.”

Jameson and Baum shook their heads.

“I just want you to know that I do not agree with this at all,” Jameson told Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren. “I ask you to consider the terrible crime that he did commit to a single mother and her children.”

Baum said outside court that he felt Garvin represented Dooley’s best interest and not the victims’ concerns. He said his mother and sister took weeks to mentally recover from the incident.

“There was no intent to fire the gun,” said Dooley’s attorney, Joe Kuhlman. “He knows this was a huge mistake.”

Bjelkengren said the facts of the case are “horrific” and the emotional harm can never be undone, but she deferred to the agreement between the prosecuting and defense attorneys.

Kuhlman said outside court that Dooley’s grandson was later found and currently lives with Colantuoni.

Jameson said she hired an attorney last week and plans to start a civil case against Dooley.