Polson man sentenced for knife attack

A Polson man was committed in Polson District Court May 15 to the Montana Department of Corrections for 20 years, with 15 years suspended on one count of assault with a weapon.

Dustin Lee Spotted Blanket, 38, entered a plea of guilty to the charge as part of a plea agreement reached March 27. The sentence was in accordance with that plea agreement.

According to charging documents based on Polson Police reports, on Dec. 7, 2023, law enforcement responded to a report of an assault victim at the parking lot of the Kwataqnuk Resort. The victim was found at the scene, covered in blood, and appeared to have been stabbed in the head.

He told the officers that he was at the Pier 93 gas station when Spotted Blanket punched him in the face. He said he went to the Kwataqnuk and Spotted Blanket followed him and attacked him with a brown-handled knife with a shortened blade.

Images of the attack were captured on video surveillance at the resort, confirming the victim’s version of it.

Police quickly located Spotted Blanket and observed him “discard something in the grass.” It was a knife with a shortened blade that Spotted Blanket said didn’t have any blood on it. That turned out to be untrue, and Spotted Blanket had blood on his hands and clothes.

Judge Molly Owen gave Spotted Blanket credit for having already served 106 days in jail.