DNA on cigarette butt smokes out burglary suspect

DNA from a tossed cigarette butt led investigators to a suspect in a 2023 burglary at a Columbia Falls tractor dealer, prosecutors say.  

Michael Jack Bothman, 49, faces felony counts of theft and burglary in Flathead County District Court in connection with the Dec. 15, 2023 break-in at a U.S. 2 outdoor power equipment dealer. He pleaded not guilty at his Oct. 23, 2025 arraignment before Judge Heidi Ulbricht.  

Employees of the business first alerted authorities to the theft of more than $11,000 in goods on Dec. 18, 2023, according to court documents. Workers arrived at the dealership two days prior to find the buildings without power, but initially chalked it up to an electrical problem. They later discovered a burglar had broken into a shed at the rear of the business. 

Surveillance footage from the evening of the break-in showed a white truck with a trailer parking in front of the business about 5:26 p.m. — after it closed for the day, according to court documents. The video shows an individual hopping out with a flashlight and inspecting various items on the dealership's grounds, smoking a cigarette as they went.  

At one point, the suspected thief looked directly into the camera before quickly ducking away, court documents said.  

Video footage shows the truck leaving about 5:49 p.m. and the surveillance system at the business detected no further activity until 7:57 p.m., according to court documents. That's when the white truck and trailer reappeared.  

An individual in the truck is captured getting out, lighting a cigarette and then using the shadows to move toward the fence, which they climbed over, court documents said. Power to the cameras was shut off soon after.  

Flathead County Sheriff's Office detectives collected a cigarette butt while investigating the scene Dec. 21, 2023. It was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab.  

In the meantime, dealership employees posted an image of the suspect's face taken from the camera recordings to social media. Several people subsequently identified the individual as Bothman, court documents said.  

After comparing the image with photos of Bothman in a law enforcement database, detectives arranged to meet with him at his probation officer's office in Lake County on Dec. 6, 2024. Bothman maintained his innocence during the conversation, allegedly accusing employees of a nearby business of carrying out the burglary.  

Bothman initially declined to give investigators a sample of his DNA, but relented after they presented him with a signed search warrant, court documents said.  

Detectives received the results of the DNA analysis on the cigarette butt, linking it to Bothman, in May 2024, according to court documents.  

Booked into the county jail Oct. 13, Bothman remains behind bars with bail set at $150,000.  

An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for Nov. 19 with a pretrial conference to follow on Jan. 9. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.