SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Department of Corrections is notifying law enforcement and the public about the pending release of a state prison inmate on Tuesday, August 9.
Officials say 36-year-old Wayne Tobias is considered high-risk to reoffend. Tobias is currently serving multiple sentences for simple assault.
Last year, Tobias was charged with three counts of simple assault in both Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties.
Two of those counts are related to an incident on March 15th, 2021, when he assaulted two health care workers in Lincoln County. Under South Dakota law, an assault on a health care worker is charged the same as an assault on law enforcement.
The judge sentenced Tobias to nearly 15 years in prison with credit for the time he served in jail, and 11 years suspended. That left him with around three and a half years in prison.
A Department of Corrections news release said Tobias was compliant with his Individual Program Directive and had reached his initial parole date. Today he was released on parole supervision.
“Based on his criminal history and institutional assessments that indicate a high-risk for committing future acts of violence, I am alerting law enforcement and the public of this offender’s pending release from prison,” Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko said in the news release.
This isn’t the first time Tobias has faced these types of charges.
In 2012, Tobias was charged with one count of simple assault on a law enforcement officer. In that case, he was also sentenced to around three and a half years. Tobias was released in 2016 with a high risk warning to the public.
Tobias is described as a white man who stands at 5-feet-10 inches tall and weighs approximately 180 pounds. He has brown hair and hazel eyes.