RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — A Rapid City teen has been sentenced to 15 years for assaulting and seriously injuring a local couple while they were picking up take-out food from a restaurant.

In December 2023, Jesse Walters, then 17 years old, and another juvenile, assaulted the couple in an attempt to steal their vehicle, according to the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office.

While a woman waited in her car, her husband went inside the restaurant to pick up their order. Walters and his accomplice violently attacked the woman and she ran into the establishment.

When her husband confronted the assailants, the two juveniles beat him with a baton.

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Thanks to fast action by the police and a bystander, the suspects were apprehended after fleeing the scene.

Walters pled guilty to two counts of aggravated assault in July. In Walters’ sentencing Tuesday, the prosecutor emphasized Walters has a history of criminal behavior and was on multiple substances including fentanyl and methamphetamine, at the time of the attack.

Although Walters was a minor when he committed the crime, he was charged as an adult under a state law that mandates that individuals aged 16 and older charged with Class 1 or 2 felonies be tried as adults in circuit court.

The second juvenile involved is being processed through the juvenile justice system.