Jury trial underway for alleged 'dating app predator' Timothy Olson

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A jury trial is underway in Milwaukee County for a man accused of kidnapping a 79-year-old woman in 2022. 

Timothy Olson faces several felony charges, and it's been a tumultuous case. 

Olson is representing himself in this trial after firing seven attorneys since this case began three years ago. He does have standby counsel but was ordered to only ask questions himself. 

On the road to trial, Olson asked for competency exams for himself twice, but psychologists found him able to withstand trial. 

The trial was supposed to begin Monday but was delayed because Olson was in the hospital with what the judge called a head injury he got in his cell. A jury was seated Tuesday, March 10. 

Olson was charged in 2022 after a 79-year-old Franklin woman told police he'd gotten into her car and abducted her the night before Thanksgiving, forcing her to drive him around and then taking the wheel for hours, claiming he had a gun. 

The woman said he forced her to drink whiskey and she eventually passed out, waking up the next morning with him still driving and then leaving her in a parking lot. 

Wednesday, that woman, now 82 years old, was called as a witness by prosecutors to tell that story to the court:

"Were you afraid?" Attorney Sara Volden Sadowski asked. 

"Oh yeah. It was the worst day of my life."

"What were you thinking at the time?"

"I don't think you can really think. You just pray. You pray."

But her entire testimony wasn't heard before a recess just before 11 a.m. - Olson appeared to be having some kind of medical emergency, choking and grunting with his head thrown back. 

The jury and witness stand were cleared, and the judge had him taken for a medical evaluation with an intent to resume court at 1 p.m.

We saw Olson in the hallway with bailiffs, and he seemed to be alert and talking.