Box Elder man denies robbing man at gunpoint, gets reduced bail

A Box Elder man accused of stealing an AK-47 rifle at gunpoint pleaded not guilty Monday in District Court in Havre.

Dakota Houle, born in 1996, is charged with robbery, assault with a weapon and theft. His bail was reduced to $5,000 from $27,000. If he posts bond, he told District Judge Daniel Boucher, he would stay with his mother in Box Elder.

Court documents say a man walked into the Havre Police Department March 31 to report that his firearm had been stolen.

The man said he was planning to go to the shooting range when he received a call from a boy he knew. The man went to the 100 Block of 15th Avenue to meet with the boy, and, while parked, Houle approached and asked for a ride, documents say.

Houle sat in the back seat of the two-door vehicle, where the man had his AK-47 M10, which was purchased from a local firearms seller March 10, the documents say.

The boy later left the vehicle and went home, after which Houle moved to the front seat.

The man told officers Houle positioned the rifle in such a way that when he would leave the vehicle he could grab the gun as he left. When he did exit the car, documents say, Houle grabbed the rifle and tried to run with it. The man said he then grabbed the rifle by the barrel and told Houle that he was not taking the rifle.

"The two begun to pull the rifle back and forth in a tug of war fashion," a documents says.

Houle then pulled out a black pistol and pointed it at the man, telling him the rifle was now his, the documents say. The man told the officer he had never been more scared he was going to get shot, so he let go of the rifle and Houle fled.

The man told the officer he didn't know Houle's name, but after searching Facebook, identified him to the officer from a photo on a page.

The boy the man picked up identified Houle as the person they gave a ride.

An officer interviewed Houle at the Hill County Detention Center 10 days later, April 10. Houle said he was not in Havre the day of the robbery. Houle said he heard about the man being robbed but did not know who he was, documents say. He said he has a brother who looks just like him. The officer interviewed the brother, who said he did not know anything about the man being robbed, documents say.

A court document also says Houle was accused of stealing a pickup truck April 7 and crashing it while two other people were inside it. No charges had been filed in that case by printing deadline this morning.

Houle told the officer when he was questioned about the robbery allegations that he had been assaulted, although documents detailing the interview say no more about it. The sheriff's office is investigating an allegation of assault against Houle by the man who said Houle stole the rifle. No charges had been filed in that case.

After Houle's father, Russell Houle, told the newspaper that his son had been pistol whipped, a Havre Daily News reporter visited Dakota Houle April 11 at the Hill County Detention Center to ask how he got the many cuts and abrasions that Houle still had that day. Houle told the reporter he didn't remember what happened. Houle was listed on the Hill County Detention jail roster as of this morning.