photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Chad Everett Cline

A Lawrence woman’s routine drive home from an appointment turned horrifying last winter, she told police, when her ex suddenly came out from hiding in the back of her car and began threatening to kill her and her family.

The man, Chad Everett Cline, 49, of Topeka, is then alleged to have then stalked the woman, threatened her and destroyed her property over the next month, according to a series of affidavits filed in Douglas County District Court. He is charged with multiple felony counts of stalking in the incidents, among other crimes.

The charges were originally filed in five separate cases over the course of a month between Dec. 23, 2024, and Jan. 24, 2025, but prosecutors consolidated the five cases into one on the grounds that they were closely related and took place in the same window of time.

The following details are from five police affidavits in support of the charges. Allegations in police affidavits have not been proved in court.

The woman told police that she and Cline had been in a relationship, but she had since ended it, which enraged Cline. She told police she had changed her telephone number eight times but that Cline had “hacked” her parents’ cell phone account to get access to her new number each time.

She said that since the breakup, Cline had frequently left vulgar, slanderous and threatening messages, often threatening to kill her and her family, by text and voicemail from different phone numbers.

But she didn’t call police until the incident in the car on Dec. 23, 2024.

The woman told police that Cline had been hiding in the back of the car and rose up to confront her while she was driving. She said she was terrified, and that Cline told her she could not hide from him and threatened violence against her and her family. She also said that he began demanding that she stop the car immediately, because his own car was parked near the office where her appointment had been.

The woman began driving back, and she said that on the way, Cline grabbed a crystal ornament that had been hanging on the car’s mirror and ripped it off.

When they arrived at Cline’s car, they found it was being towed, the woman said. The tow truck operator told Cline it would cost $100 for him to get his car back, and the woman said she then gave Cline $100 to “appease him.” When Cline got out of the car, the woman said, she drove a short distance away and called police.

While she waited for police to arrive, she hid at the office where her appointment had been. Then, she said Cline began texting her, threatening to kill her.

“You’re dead. I don’t want you either,” one message she shared with police read.

When police searched the woman’s car, they found an “altered steak knife” where Cline had been hiding. The tip of the knife had been broken off to make it square, and it had then been filed sharp on all sides.

Police reviewed surveillance video from the gas station and observed Cline parking, crossing the street and entering the woman’s car. Police also reviewed more messages from Cline to the woman, including one with a picture of her credit card and other financial information that had been taken from her car that afternoon.

“Your cards are here,” the message read. “I know you don’t want to see me … I’ll save you the trouble. They’ll be out in the street in front of my house.”

Cline was arrested in connection with this incident on Dec. 26, 2024, in Topeka. At the time of his arrest, he told police that he didn’t break into the woman’s car, because he had a key to it.

He posted a $10,000 surety bond on Jan. 10 and was released. Then, later that evening, the woman called the police for help again, saying that Cline had begun calling and texting her. An officer came to the woman’s house and spoke to Cline over the phone about violating a protective order against the woman, but the affidavit alleged that Cline pretended he was someone else while on the phone with the officer.

Days later, the woman called police again after receiving another series of calls and messages. One message called her a vulgar name and said “I already have my next bond. Money is in my pocket.” The woman said she thought that meant Cline was prepared to be arrested again. Police were unable to locate Cline at that time.

On Jan. 16, the woman was at the same office where Cline had previously entered her vehicle, and she called police after she believed Cline was watching the office from across the street. Cline had texted her, saying that that he believed she was dating someone at the office and that he would see for himself when she left the office. Cline was not located at that time.

On Jan. 24, the woman borrowed a friend’s car to go to an appointment and then returned the car to her friend. Later that day, someone shattered the windows of the car. The woman and her friend speculated that since no other cars on the street were vandalized, Cline must have broken the windows. They also speculated that Cline may have thought the car belonged to a man that the woman was seeing.

The woman told police that she had recently changed her phone number yet again and was confident Cline didn’t have it. But she said he then contacted her on social media and confirmed that he had indeed smashed the windows of her friend’s car; she said he promised he would pay for the damages.

Cline was arrested in connection with the later incidents during a traffic stop on Feb. 7 by Douglas County sheriff’s deputies. He has been in custody since then on a $55,000 bond, and if he posts bail he must have GPS monitoring, according to the jail booking log.

He is next scheduled to appear in court on April 17 for a scheduling conference.

Cline has numerous prior felony drug possession and misdemeanor domestic battery convictions in Franklin and Shawnee Counties over the last 30 years, according to court records.