'I Hit Something,' State AG Said After Deadly Crash

South Dakota releases transcript, toxicology reports
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 13, 2020 4:38 PM CDT
911 Call From State AG's Deadly Crash Released
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg addresses supporters Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Sioux Falls, SD.   (Briana Sanchez/The Argus Leader via AP)

"I hit something" South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg told a 911 dispatcher on the night of Sept. 12 after fatally striking a pedestrian with his car. State authorities released a transcript of the 911 call and toxicology reports in an update on the case Tuesday, the Argus Leader reports. When the dispatcher asked Ravnsborg if he was injured, he said, "I am not, but my car sure as hell is." He said his windscreen had been smashed. "Do you think it was a deer or something?" the dispatcher asked. Ravnsborg replied: "I have no idea." The body of 55-year-old Joseph Boever was found the next morning by Ravnsborg, who said he stopped to search the scene when returning the sheriff's vehicle he had driven home after the accident.

Ravnsborg, who had been traveling home to Pierre from a fundraising dinner 110 miles away in Redfield, told investigators he hadn't been drinking "before, during, or after" the event. Toxicology reports released Tuesday said no drugs or alcohol were found in Ravnsborg's system, though the samples were not taken until 15 hours after the crash, KELO reports. At a press conference Tuesday, Craig Price, the state's secretary of public safety, declined to say whether a blood sample should have been taken the night of the crash. He said an investigation is ongoing involving South Dakota troopers as well as the North Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, which was asked to handle the case to avoid any potential conflict of interest. ("A deer doesn't look like a human," Boever's relatives say.)

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