Minneapolis woman who hit man with car in St. Paul acquitted

A Ramsey County jury has acquitted a woman of charges that she intentionally hit the father of her children with her car in St. Paul, sending him to the hospital, during an argument in 2021.

Tishyra Dionne Hulsey, 51, of Minneapolis, was found not guilty of second- and third-degree assault last week following a two-day trial in Ramsey County District Court. Jurors deliberated for about 45 minutes before reaching the verdicts, according to court records.

Hulsey was represented by attorney Seamus Mahoney, who said Friday that he argued it was an accident and that Hulsey testified as much during the trial.

“She accelerated — she testified two or three car lengths — and shot forward and lost control of the car,” Mahoney said. “The jury believed her.”

Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney’s office, said in a Friday statement: “While we are disappointed with the outcome, we respect the decision of the jury.”

According to the criminal complaint, the incident started on the evening of Nov. 4, 2021, when Hulsey and the man got into an argument in Minneapolis that began over the use of cars.

Hulsey told police during a phone interview the next day that she and the man had not been together for 14 years and that Hulsey had left because he had abused her. They have two children in common. She said the man continued to insert himself into her life. He had driven by her house and noticed a BMW in the driveway, which upset him.

Hulsey explained it was a loaner car while another car was being repaired. She said he took the keys to the BMW and her phone and got into his Tahoe. She jumped in the Tahoe and they fought over the keys and her cellphone.

“He struck her several times, and we have the pictures of the bruises on her face,” Mahoney said.

She got the keys back and exited the vehicle, but he still had her phone and he drove off, the complaint said.

The man told police that Hulsey followed him in the BMW east on Interstate 94 toward Snelling Avenue in St. Paul. Hulsey’s daughter also followed in a black Impala.

The man told police Hulsey rammed his Tahoe three to four times as he traveled on Lexington Parkway toward a BP gas station. Mahoney said he “made that up,” and that the daughter testified that Hulsey left Minneapolis about 45 minutes after the man left.

“There were no witnesses to that or any evidence,” Mahoney said.

At the gas station, the daughter sat on the hood of the Tahoe demanding her mother’s phone. The man exited the Tahoe and the two began to fight. Hulsey told police she thought he was hitting her daughter. Hulsey said she stepped on the gas and drove toward them, and that the man “jumped on the hood of the BMW” and fell to the ground.