A Pedestrian Dies In A Crash Involving The Attorney General of South Dakota
The Attorney General of South Dakota was involved in a fatal crash earlier this month when he struck and killed a pedestrian.
NBC in Miami reports that on Saturday, September 12th, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was returning from a Republican fundraiser and driving along a stretch of rural road when he thought he had struck a deer.
Ravnsborg called 911 to report the accident to the Hyde County Sheriff’s Office. Both Ravnsborg and the Sheriff searched for the deer but didn’t find it. The next morning, the AG returned to the site. Rather than finding a deer, he found the body of a man instead.
The victim has been identified as 55-year-old Joe Boever.
“I discovered the body of Mr. Boever in the grass just off the roadway,” Mr. Ravnsborg wrote in a statement. “it was apparent that he was dead.”
Initial reports indicate that Joe Boever crashed his pickup truck into a large bale of hay and was walking along the road when he was struck by the Attorney General’s vehicle.
Victor Nemec, who is believed to be the last person who Boever spoke to before the fatal crash, is suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the case. “A human doesn’t look like a deer, Nemec told reporters, “the whole thing stinks to me.”
So far, investigators have not determined whether alcohol was served at the Republican fundraiser, which might have played a role in the fatal crash. Court documents indicate, however, that Ravnsborg has a history of traffic citations for speeding.
The incident is being investigated by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety and the North Dakota Department of Criminal Investigation.