MARTIN COUNTY — A 72-year-old former Colorado doctor – with outstanding warrants for sexual assault – remained hospitalized Tuesday after exchanging gunfire with deputies and a U.S. Marshal in Vero Beach. The man – who deputies said threatened to “go out in a blaze” before going to jail – was identified as Thomas Earl Steffens, from Grand Junction.
“I want to thank God our deputies and our marshal are okay,” said Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek during a Tuesday news conference at the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Stuart.
Budensiek stood alongside Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers, along with Marty West, acting commander for the Florida Caribbean Regional Task Force, as they updated the media on Monday night’s shootout.
The U.S. Marshal, who was struck in the leg, was released from the hospital Monday night, Flowers said. Steffens was shot four times during the gunfire, according to Flowers.
Thomas Earl Steffens PHOTO BY NICK SAMUEL
Once Steffens is released from the hospital, he will face charges out of Colorado including two counts of sexual assault, second-degree assault (strangulation) and third-degree assault. Steffens also faces attempted murder charges for the Indian River County shootout, Flowers said.
Flowers said Steffens could also face federal charges.
Budensiek said Steffens had been suspended from working as a neurosurgeon in 2025 because of unspecified, inappropriate activities. Steffens had worked for the Grand Junction VA Medical Center, according to officials.
“He is no longer actively functioning as a doctor,” Budensiek said.
The names of the two Indian River County deputies, along with two Martin County deputies and the U.S. Marshal who fired shots, were not released. Body camera footage of the gunfire will be released once sheriff’s officials get clearance from federal authorities.
Deputies closed 12th Street near Commerce Avenue, the scene of the shooting in Vero Beach, for several hours. The roadway was reopened by 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Lt. Kevin Jaworski, a spokesperson for the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office.
The initial investigation involved the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, Martin County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals. An unidentified woman contacted police in late January to report a sexual assault, a Grand Junction police report shows.
Officials believe that Steffens drugged the woman at a bar in Grand Junction and sexually assaulted her at his home. Steffens obtained prescription medications to sedate the woman, according to deputies.
The woman could not remember what happened after the bar, according to deputies.
“The next day, she woke up in (Steffens’) house groggy. She saw a light that she thought was a recording device over where she was lying. She was lying unclothed,” Budensiek said. “She firmly believed she had been sexually assaulted. Steffens tried to convince her that she wanted to have sexual intercourse with him.”
Steffens then dropped the woman off back at the bar.
“Law enforcement shows up and sees she has been battered significantly,” said Budensiek, who added that the woman had bruises on her body. “She had strangulation marks around her neck.”
Grand Junction police believe Steffens placed the prescribed drug into the woman’s drink while at the bar, Budensiek said. Officers in Grand Junction found traces of the narcotic substance when they searched Steffens’ home and vehicle, according to officials.
Grand Junction police issued a warrant for Steffens’ arrest on Feb. 25.
“Our suspect knew at that point that law enforcement was trying to interview him,” Budensiek said. “He did not provide an interview, but police did search his vehicle and house in Colorado. (Police) recovered different pieces of evidence.”
Flowers said deputies learned Steffens made threats to kill multiple law enforcement officers and said that he wasn’t going to be taken alive.
“When local law enforcement conducted the search warrant in Colorado, they recovered numerous weapons (at Steffens’ home),” Flowers said. “The team investigating this had constant intel that (Steffens) made statements that he was going to go out in a blaze…that he was going to kill three law enforcement officers. Our team took that very seriously.”
Steffens then got on a Greyhound bus, traveled southeast and arrived in Fort Pierce on Monday night.
Deputies said Steffens had been communicating with an Indian River County woman who picked him up in a small, silver Hyundai sports utility vehicle from the bus stop in Fort Pierce. The woman, who is not a suspect, drove Steffens to the Green Marlin seafood restaurant, just west of U.S. 1 and north of 12th Street, to have dinner, sheriff’s officials said.
The two then traveled to the Publix Super Market at 12th Street Plaza, where the woman got out of the SUV and went inside. The woman returned back to the vehicle and the two traveled to 12th Street and Commerce Avenue, where the woman stopped the SUV because of a train passing by.
Then, law enforcement officers used their vehicles to block in the SUV Steffens was traveling in moments before the shooting.
“All of our units did collectively did a takedown in order to take our suspect into custody,” Budensiek said.
Flowers said the woman complied and got out of the vehicle. The woman told deputies that Steffens “had a gun and wasn’t going down without a fight,” Flowers said.
Deputies and U.S. Marshals gave Steffens commands to get out of the SUV and he refused to comply, according to Flowers. Steffens, who was in the passenger seat, fired rounds toward the law enforcement officers while still in the vehicle.
It was not immediately known how many rounds were fired total.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARTIN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
“We will be conducting a search warrant on the (vehicle),” Flowers said. “Our team has seen his gun and spent shell casings inside the (vehicle).”
The SUV – riddled with bullet holes – was taken to the Indian River County sheriff’s compound to be placed in evidence.
“This guy made the decision to shoot at deputies and we shot back at him,” Flowers said. “Our deputies did exactly what they were trained to do.”
After the shooting, Steffens was taken to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce. The U.S. Marshal was taken to Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital.
