Sept. 12, 2020. South Dakota Attorney Gerneral Jason Ravnsborg was driving home from a Republican Party event when he struck and killed 55-year-old Joe Boever.
Ravnsborg called 911 to report only that he’d hit “something” that he thought could have been a deer.
In videos released late Tuesday by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, investigators can be seen challenging Ravnsborg’s claim that he didn’t see what it was he struck during the crash.
During an interrogation on Sept. 30, investigators noted Boever’s glasses were found inside Ravnsborg’s 2011 Ford Taurus.
“That means his face came through your windshield,” said a North Dakota Bureau of Investigation agent, one of two who questioned Ravnsborg for more than three hours in a pair of sessions.
“His face is in your windshield,” the agent said as Ravnsborg groans. “Think about it.”
Ravnsborg also was asked why he didn’t see a flashlight Boever was carrying when the crash occurred at 10:24 p.m. When the agents arrived from North Dakota, it was still on, shining “like a beacon,” they said.
The videos were part of a collection of information released Tuesday, more than five months after the crash.
The Republican official, who was charged last week with three misdemeanors—careless driving, failure to remain in his lane, and talking on a cellphone while driving, albeit prior to the crash—has been asked to resign by Gov. Kristi Noem, and articles of impeachment have been introduced in the legislature.
So far, Ravnsborg—pronounced “Rounds-berg”—said he would not step down.
(thedailybeast.com) South Dakota Department of Public Safety (sd.gov)