Judge denies bail reduction for man shot by police in March 16 incident
Dustin Steele appeared in court on April 29, asking for a reduction in bail due to his medical needs related to having been shot by police on March 16 in the 600 block of 17th Avenue South.
His bail was $250,000, which he requested be reduced to $50,000.
He also asked that he be allowed to have contact with the victims and witnesses in the case, who are his mother and other family members.
After about an hour-long hearing, Judge John Parker denied the bail reduction and maintained the no-contact order with his family members.
Steele was charged in late March with three felony counts of assault on a peace officer and a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief.
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When the charges were filed, Steele was in the hospital, but was booked into the Cascade County Adult Detention Center a few days later on March 27, according to the jail roster.
Once a person is in custody, the county is responsible for the cost of their medical care and supervision.
During the hearing, Steele’s mother and aunt said that he’s a good and loving person with mental health problems.
His mother, Joy Burkstrand, said that during the March 16 incident Steele wasn’t in his right mind and she yelled at him.
She said that she wasn’t scared of her son when she called 911 for help, but was worried that if she yelled at him, the situation would get worse.
He was living with his mother at the time of the incident. He’d been released from prison in July 2025.
Steele told Parker that if his bond was reduced, he may be able to bond out and in that case would stay with family and look for work.
He said the jail wasn’t a good environment for his medical needs, he has a hard time washing himself, has nerve damage, is concerned about infection and lots of medical appointments.
Steele said he was “not asking for compassion.”
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Jessica Martinez, a nurse who manages medical services at the jail, said that Steele was released from the hospital into custody and her staff was able to provide and coordinate his care. She said the hospital would not have released Steele if he was unable to wash himself.
She said that in cases where the medical conditions exceed their ability to provide care, they advocate for medical releases in consultation with jail administration and the county attorney’s office.
Dean Koffler, Steele’s defense attorney, said they were requesting a bail reduction with GPS monitoring and weekly monitoring. He argued that Steele’s family was his support system and that he was not violent.
Theresa Diekhans, a deputy county attorney prosecuting the case, said that the hearing was set to consider medical bail but had expanded to the request for contact with victims.
It was “astonishing,” she said, for the defense to suggest Steele was not a violent man since in this case, he’s accused of damaging his mother’s residence, setting a fire that could have damaged neighboring residences and having what police believed was a rifle.
She said Steele’s family couldn’t manage him and his lengthy federal and local criminal history suggested he was unable to abide by court conditions.
Parker said that, due to the severity of the charges, he would not modify the no-contact order or reduce Steele’s bond, as he was “not finding that medical care is inadequate.”
He said that the probable cause in the case suggested risk and the $250,000 bond “is reasonable.”
According to court documents filed on March 23, Steele’s mother called 911 around 7:50 p.m. March 16 to report that Steele was extremely paranoid and upset all day.
She told dispatchers that her son had been released from prison in July 2025 and had recently moved in with her at Grandview Terrace mobile home park.
Steele’s mother reported that he had been “ransacking the residence and attempted to start a fire that was quickly extinguished,” turning over a table and throwing things, according to court documents.
Officers arrived in about six minutes, parking about a block away due to the situation.
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As officers were approaching, the mother exited the residence and told officers that Steele had a weapon, possibly a sword, and that he was displaying it or using it while damaging the residence without her consent.
Steele’s mother told officers that she believed he had makeshift gun that he made with PVC pipes or curtain rods, according to court documents.
Officers ensured the mother was safe, then three officers approached the unit. When they were about 50 yards away, Steele came into view between his and the neighboring unit with what appeared to be an AR-15 weapon in his hands, according to court documents.
Steele’s mother said she heard him say something like “Come on,” to the officers, who ordered him to drop the weapon.
He did not, pointing it at the three officers, who fired, striking him multiple times, according to court documents.
Steele moved to the stoop/porch area of the neighboring unit and remained there as first aid was rendered. He was transported by ambulance to the hospital.
Officers executed a search warrant on Steele’s unit, finding it to be “severely ransacked,” with tables in the kitchen area and living room turned over, broken glass, broken flowerpots and broken mirrors on the floor and scattered throughout the unit, according to court documents.
In the bedrooms, both beds were flipped or turned on their side and a rear bedroom door appeared to have been taken off the hinges and was on the ground in pieces.
A detective found writing on the walls that appeared to be written by Steele, including his mother’s name with “f*** you die you did this,” according to court documents.
On March 23, a detective talked to Steele’s mother to get the approximate dollar amount of property damage, but she said most of it was old and not worth much. She said most of the damage was the cost of cleaning, according to court documents.
The night of the shooting, Lt. Matt Fleming of the Great Falls Police Department said officers had not been injured and that GFPD had requested assistance from the Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.
Steele was released from federal prison in August 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons database.
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He had been serving a sentence on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to federal court documents.
In that case, he was sentenced in 2014 to a total of 135 months in federal prison with four years of supervision to follow.
Steele started his supervision period in January 2024 and by June 2024 had violations filed in federal court.
In June 2024, his probation officer wrote “the defendant has been incarcerated most of his adult life. In the past, the defendant did not care about anybody or himself and did what he wanted, regardless of the consequences. Since being
on supervision and for the first time in his life, he obtained a checking account, received his driver’s license and purchased a car in his name. The defendant reports he recently went through a break-up with his girlfriend and was struggling. He will re-engage with his mental health counselor and will see Teresa Mouser for mental health counseling. The defendant will continue to be drug tested on a random basis. At this time, it is respectfully recommended the defendant’s release be continued. Any further violations will be immediately reported to the court.”
In November 2024, a federal judge remanded Steele back to federal prison for 12 months.
In that case, Steele and Christopher James Michelotti employed other people in Great Falls in 2013 to sell methamphetamine for them and at one point one man owed Michelotti about $700 for a drug debt, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In August 2013, Michelotti and Steele began looking for the man and the money. The man agreed to meet Michelotti in a restaurant parking lot, but found him and Steele, who forced the man into a blue Chevy pickup and demanded the money. Steele had a handgun and Michelotti wore brass knuckles with a knife, according to court documents.
Michelotti and Steele picked up another man at a local casino who also had a drug debt.
The first man said he could get money from his girlfriend and after the men left her house, she alerted police to the kidnapping.
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The man who’d been picked up at the casino escaped and Steele called a friend to come pick them up, saying they were running from the cops and had hostages, according to court documents.
Police located the truck and arrested Steele and Michelotti, finding a backpack with meth and a stolen gun. Detectives also searched a known stash house used by Michelotti, finding more meth.
In 2003, Steele was sentenced in federal court on a charge of unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm. In that case, the drug being used was meth, according to court records.
