South Dakota Attorney General Reported He Hit a Deer but Actually Killed Man in Crash
(The AEGIS Alliance) – SOUTH DAKOTA – The attorney general for South Dakota, Jason Ravnsborg filed a police report and said he hit a deer with his car Saturday night, but actually he crashed into and struck a pedestrian. Authorities didn’t discover the pedestrian’s body until the next day on Sunday, according to state investigators on Monday.
The attorney general’s office said Ravnsborg immediately dialed 911 following the accident on US Highway 14 in a rural area. The office said Ravnsborg didn’t know his vehicle had struck a man until his body was discovered.
On Monday the department of public safety gave a statement and said Ravnsborg reported to the Hyde county sheriff’s office that it was a deer he’d hit but he wouldn’t say if reported the incident to 911.
Authorities identified the man as Joseph Boever, aged 55, whose body wasn’t found until Sunday morning. Boever’s relatives said he crashed his truck in that area earlier and was walking toward it near the road.
On Sunday Kristi Noam, the Republican governor revealed that Ravnsborg had been involved in a fatal car accident. Noam mentioned the incident was currently in an ongoing investigation by the department of public safety, but Noam and the agency didn’t go into any further details about the incident.
Ravnsborg released a statement on Sunday and said he is “shocked and filled with sorrow” but he didn’t go into details either. On Monday the AG’s office said Ravnsborg wasn’t under the influence of alcohol before the crash.
Ravnsborg was attending a Republican fundraiser in Redfield that night and was driving home on a trip to Pierre that was about 110 miles away, AG spokesman Tim Bormann, said. Ravnsborg didn’t suffer any injuries from the deadly crash. The Spink County Republicans hosted the fundraising dinner at Rooster’s Bar & Grill. AG Ravnsborg frequently attends these fundraisers called Lincoln Day Dinners that GOP groups host throughout the state of South Dakota.
Spokesman Bormann said the AG only drinks occasionally but makes sure he doesn’t drink when attending the Lincoln Day events.
Ravnsborg has been ticketed six times for speeding in South Dakota in the past six years. The AG has also gotten tickets for driving a vehicle without having a proper muffler system and exhaust, also for a seatbelt violation.
Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
