Mitchell Taxi Company Owner Revoked License After Drug Arrest, Council Should Honor Revocation – Mitchell Republic

MITCHELL — The Mitchell City Council will consider honoring Mayor Bob Everson’s decision Monday to revoke a Mitchell cab company’s license because the owner was arrested for alleged possession of methamphetamine.

According to Everson, Speedy Taxi owner Dustin Feistner was arrested March 7 for alleged possession of a controlled substance (meth), a Class 5 felony carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

In Everson’s letter to Feistner, he wrote, “Regular use of methamphetamine poses an unreasonable risk to public safety.” Everson stated that Feistner’s arrest and alleged confession to police officers that he “uses meth on a daily basis” was one reason for the city ​​to revoke his taxi license.

While Feistner’s taxi license is revoked effective immediately, the council can honor the decision or overrule it at Monday’s 6 p.m. session.

The recent license suspension isn’t the first time Feistner has had a cab license suspended in Mitchell. In 2021, the council denied Speedy Taxi a license due to his long criminal record and previous allegations of poor driving habits. In the early years of Speedy Taxis’ operations, several other taxi operators challenged the council to deny Feistner’s license, citing alleged road traffic incidents and bad business practices.

In 2019, he was arrested after a violent crime conviction for leading officers in two vehicle chases and for possessing a firearm. Feistner pled guilty to possession of a firearm following a conviction to a violent crime related to the August 2019 incident and was sentenced to five years in prison. In 2017, Feistner was convicted of aggravated assault that barred him from possessing a firearm.

According to police chief Mike Koster, Feistner previously operated the taxi service without a license at times.

After Feistner was released from prison and paroled about two years ago, he again came before the council and sought a new opportunity to run his taxi business.

“In January I went to prison and served 15 months. I believe I’m a changed person… It gave me a lot of time to reflect and reform,” Feistner said at the June 2021 council meeting. “I’m asking for a conditional license… First and foremost, I’m a changed person, and I would love to have a chance to prove that.”

The council finally gave Feistner another opportunity to run his taxi company in January 2022, six months after he was denied a license.

Sam Fosness joined the Mitchell Republic in May 2018. He was raised in Mitchell, SD and graduated from Mitchell High School. He continued his education at the University of South Dakota at Vermillion, where he graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in English. During his college days, Fosness worked as a news and sports reporter for The Volante newspaper.

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