A Woonsocket man was arrested for assault and taken to the Davison County Jail less than 10 hours before he was scheduled to appear in court Thursday for operating a taxi without a license.
Dustin Feistner, 39, was arrested by Mitchell police at 12:25 a.m. on Thursday after a woman told police that Feistner had assaulted her at her residence, reportedly kicking her several times and threatening to cut her throat if she contacted law enforcement. The woman allegedly had red marks and bruising on her lower right arm following the incident.
Feistner left the residence in his vehicle and was later found, arrested and taken to the Davison County Jail.
At 10 a.m., in a case prosecuted by the city of Mitchell, Feistner pleaded guilty to and was convicted of operating a taxi without a license.
The Mitchell City Council voted unanimously on Dec. 17 to allow the taxi license for Speedy Taxi, the company for which Feistner is both the manager and the only employee, to expire at the end of the month and to deny Speedy Taxi's application for a new license this year.
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City attorney Justin Johnson said in court that Feistner was seen driving a taxi on Jan. 6 in Mitchell, though his license had expired at midnight on Dec. 31. Feistner said he had not been charging a set fee for the rides he gave, but that some people left money for their rides.
In exchange for Feistner's guilty plea, the city agreed not to file any other charges against him for operating without a license.
Feistner was given a suspended 30-day jail sentence and ordered to pay $122.50 in fines and costs. As conditions of his suspended sentence, Feistner cannot operate a taxi without a license and is required to be on good behavior for the next 180 days.
According to a criminal history obtained by The Daily Republic from the South Dakota Unified Judicial System, Feistner was convicted of aggravated assault causing bodily injury with a dangerous weapon, a Class 3 felony, on Aug. 19, 2017.
Prior to Thursday and beginning in August of 2000, he's also been convicted of 18 misdemeanors, including five disorderly conduct charges, three simple assault charges, driving under the influence, reckless driving and speeding, among others.
For those convictions, Feistner has been sentenced to a total of 208 days in jail and ordered to pay $4,862 in fines and $1,145.50 over the past 18 years.
Feistner has also had five felony and 15 misdemeanor charges against him dismissed in that time and has had protection orders issued against him for four people, one of whom works for another taxi service in town.
