A man accused of shooting at a man in the parking lot of Teasers Gentleman’s Club near Three Forks on Thursday has been charged with attempted deliberate homicide.
Steven Alonza French, 40, is being held in the Gallatin County jail on $250,000 bail after his arrest on a Broadwater County warrant on Friday afternoon.
According to charging documents filed in Broadwater County:
On Thursday, law enforcement from the Broadwater and Gallatin County sheriff’s offices as well as the Manhattan Police Department responded to a report of a shooting in the parking lot of Teasers, near the interchange at the junction of Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 287.
At the scene, investigators found a red Pontiac GTO with what appeared to be three bullet holes in the driver’s side front panel.
The manager of the bar and an employee told investigators that they were outside smoking when they saw an unknown man, who was a passenger in a black Chevrolet Avalanche, arguing with a man identified as Christopher Smith.
The witnesses said they saw the man fire a gun at Smith and miss him, then fire more shots at Smith while standing up in the passenger side door of the Chevrolet before fleeing toward Bozeman.
The witnesses said they checked on Smith, who was uninjured. Smith then also left, heading north on U.S. Highway 287.
In the parking lot, investigators found eight empty shell casings from a .40-caliber pistol as well as one unknown caliber bullet slug.
The Avalanche was later stopped in Gallatin County, and its occupants were detained. French, who matched the description of the shooter, was the driver.
Investigators searched the vehicle and found a number of items but not a gun.
French declined to speak with investigators. The passenger who was with French said she had been asleep in the back and didn’t know where Broadwater County was. .
Court documents note that the investigation is ongoing and investigators are seeking additional witnesses.
During his brief court appearance in Gallatin County Justice Court, where he appeared via video from the Bozeman jail, French called the deliberate homicide count a “bogus charge.”
“Nobody got hurt,” French said. “This is against my rights.”
If convicted, French faces a maximum punishment of life in prison.
French is currently on probation out of Yellowstone County for a felony conviction of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and persistent felony offender carrying concealed weapons in 2008. He also has felony convictions from 1995 for kidnapping and theft.
There is only one cure for stupid. It is illegal for a convicted felon to posses a concealed weapon. I has been in some rough clubs but they usually have security. It never is smart for a club to allow incidents like this to happen. It chases away customers. That is why Detroit clubs have well lit parking lots and security cameras.