Mitchell man gets jail for third-offense DUI

A 46-year-old Mitchell man was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail and two years on probation for third-offense drunken driving.

Richard Sellers was arrested Sept. 15 after a Highway Patrol trooper observed him make an illegal right turn from Fifth Avenue onto Sanborn Boulevard in Mitchell, and noticed Sellers wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Sellers failed a series of sobriety tests during the traffic stop and was arrested for drunken driving. His blood alcohol content was found to be 0.155 around the time of his arrest.

The legal limit for driving in South Dakota is 0.08.

Because Sellers has two prior convictions for DUI within the last 10 years, he was charged with a felony. Judge Tim Bjorkman sentenced Sellers to serve 32 days in jail immediately, 30 days starting Dec. 1, and 28 days starting Dec. 1, 2014. He was given credit for one day served.

Sellers will spend two years on probation and have his driver’s license revoked for one year following the end of his first jail term.

Tags: drunken driving, news, updates, crime, local, mitchell, dui, jail