MITCHELL — The Mitchell City Council will consider honoring Mayor Bob Everson’s decision to revoke a Mitchell taxi company’s license on Monday due to the owner being arrested for alleged possession of methamphetamine.
According to Everson, the owner of Speedy Taxi, Dustin Feistner, was arrested on Mar. 7 for alleged possession of a controlled substance (meth), a Class 5 felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
In Everson’s letter to Feistner, he wrote “the regular use of methamphetamine poses an undue risk to public safety.” Everson explained Feistner’s arrest and alleged confession to law enforcement officers that he was “using meth on a daily basis” was grounds for the city to revoke his taxi license.
While Feistner’s taxi license is revoked as of now, the council can honor the decision or override it at the 6 p.m. meeting on Monday.
The recent license revocation isn’t the first time Feistner was stripped of a taxi license in Mitchell. In 2021, the council denied Speedy Taxi's license due to his lengthy criminal history and past allegations of poor driving habits. In the early years of Speedy taxi’s operations, several other taxi business owners urged the council to deny Feistner’s license, citing alleged road rage incidents and poor business practices.
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In 2019, he was arrested for leading officers on two vehicle pursuits and possessing a firearm after a violent crime conviction . Feistner pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm after a violent crime conviction in connection to the August 2019 incident and was sentenced to five years in prison. In 2017, Feistner was convicted of aggravated assault, which prohibited him from having a firearm in his possession.
According to Police Chief Mike Koster, Feistner has previously operated the taxi service for a period of time without a license.
After Feistner was released from prison and placed on parole roughly two years ago, he came back in front of the council seeking another chance at operating his taxi business.
“In January, I did go to prison and served 15 months. I believe I am a changed person… It gave me a lot of time to think and reform myself,” Feistner said at the June 2021 council meeting. “I’m asking for a conditional license… First and foremost, I am a changed person, and I’d love a chance to prove that.”
The council ultimately gave Feistner another opportunity at running his taxi business in January 2022, six months after denying him a license.
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