SOUTH Dakota’s attorney general Jason Ravnsborg is being investigated after discovering he had hit and killed a pedestrian on a main highway in the state.
Mr Ravnsborg, 44, believed he had hit a deer while driving home from a fundraising event on Saturday night – but it turned out to be a pedestrian.
Who is South Dakota attorney general Jason Ravnsborg?
Jason Ravnsborg, 44, is the Attorney General for the state of South Dakota in the US.
He is a member of the Republican Party and was elected Attorney General of South Dakota in 2018.
Recently, Ravnsborg was part of a group of 50 attorneys that opened a broad investigation into whether advertising practices of Alphabet Inc.’s Google violate antitrust laws.
Ravnsborg ran in the Republican primaries for the 2014 United States Senate election in South Dakota, but lost to Mike Rounds.
Before becoming attorney general, Ravnsborg served in the US Army and was a lawyer in his own private practice.
What happened on September 12?
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg reported hitting a deer with his car on the night of Saturday, September 12, as he returned home from a Republican Party fundraising event.
The incident took place on a rural stretch of US Highway 14, which runs through the centre of the state.
But he had actually killed a pedestrian.
When he returned to the scene on Sunday he found the body of Joseph Boever, 55.
Ravnsborg’s office said he immediately called 911 after the crash on a rural stretch of U.S. Highway 14 and did not realize he had hit a man until his body was found.
The Department of Public Safety issued a statement on Monday, September 14, that said only that Ravnsborg told the Hyde County Sheriffs Office that he had hit a deer.
Tony Mangan, a spokesman for the department, would not confirm whether Ravnsborg called 911, saying it is part of the ongoing investigation.
Ravnsborg added that he was co-operating with the investigation, while offering his “deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of Mr Boever”.
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Who is Joe Boever?
The pedestrian, who was identified as 55-year-old Joseph Boever, was not found until Sunday morning, according to the department.
Mr Boever had crashed his truck in that area earlier, according to relatives, and was apparently walking near the road toward it.
He was then struck down and killed, according to incident reports.