REVEALED: South Dakota AG who told cops he hit a deer when he actually killed a man previously shared photos from behind the wheel as he drove and has a history of speeding tickets and traffic violations
The South Dakota Attorney General who recently was involved in a fatal accident has previously shared photos from behind the wheel as he drove and has a history of speeding and traffic violations.
This past Saturday, Jason Ravnsborg accidentally hit and killed Joe Boever, who was walking along a rural stretch of highway while he was driving home to Pierre from a Republican fundraiser
Boever's body was discovered on Sunday morning.
Ravnsborg, 44, told the Hyde County Sheriff’s Office that because it was dark, around 10.30pm, he couldn't see very well and thought he had hit a deer.
His Facebook account reveals photos he has taken or stills of dash cam video while driving. He has received at least eight speeding tickets, eight within a four-year period.
According to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Ravnsborg has received six speeding tickets between 2014 and 2018 in South Dakota, all before he was elected Attorney General.
Each offense took place in a different county and included speeding on a state highway and speeding on a four-lane road in a rural area.
In one instance, he was driving 85 miles per hour (mph) on a highway in which the speed limit is 65 mph, documents obtained by the Argus Leader reveal.
He pleaded guilty to all six offenses and paid fines ranging between $19 and $79, and had to pay between $66 and $68 in court costs.
Ravnsborg has also posted multiple pictures or grabs from dash cam video on Facebook of roads where it is clear he is behind the wheel including this photo from October 2019
In another photo or dash cam still from May 2018, Ravnsborg is seen driving along a highway through rural South Dakota
Ravnsborg (left) hit and killed 55-year-old Joe Boever (right) with his car near Highmore on Saturday night and called 911 to report that he'd hit a deer
New documents reveal Ravnsborg had received eight speeding tickets, six between 2014 and 2018 in South Dakota, and two in Iowa
Ravnsborg also has received two speeding tickets in Iowa, one in 1996 and the other in 2003, the newspaper reported.
It's unclear whether he pleaded guilty or not in these cases and if he paid fines or court costs.
The Argus Leader also found two other violations, one in which he wasn't wearing a seat belt in March 2017 and another for driving without a proper exhaust and muffler system in August 2015.
Documents obtained by the newspaper reveal he pleaded guilty and paid a $25 fine and a $54 fine, respectively.
Additionally, Ravnsborg has shared photos while behind the wheel, including one in October 2019.
'As many of you know I spend many hours behind the wheel traveling our great state, so I thought I would show you some of my great views and take more pictures of South Dakota as I travel,' he wrote.
Ravnsborg attended a GOP dinner at a bar before he reported hitting a deer on his 110-mile drive home when he actually struck and killed a man.
Photos posted on the Spink County Republicans' Facebook page show Ravnsborg sitting near the stage at the small Republican fundraiser at Rooster's Bar and Grill in Redfield Saturday night, hours before he hit 55-year-old Boever with his vehicle.
Witnesses at the fundraiser have vouched for the Attorney General, saying they didn't see him drinking alcohol and that he did not seem 'impaired in any way shape or form'.
Ravnsborg told authorities he hit 'something I believed to be a large animal (likely a deer)' soon after he passed Boever's hometown of Highmore.
The Ford Taurus that Ravnsborg was driving the night he killed Boever had a huge hole in the windshield of the passenger's side (pictured)
Tire tracks are visible on the side of the highway on Monday, September 14, where Boever's truck sat Saturday night when he was killed while walking back to the vehicle
Boever's damaged pickup truck is seen in the middle of a field after he had crashed into a hay bale hours before he was struck and killed by Ravnsborg
'I didn't see what I hit and stopped my vehicle immediately to investigate,' he wrote, adding that he pulled out the flashlight on his cell phone and all he could see were pieces of his car strewn across the roadway.
The DPS said the crash occurred at 10:30 p.m. on U.S. Highway 14, one mile west of Highmore and along a stretch of road lit up with street lamps.
It takes one hour and seven minutes to drive from the restaurant to the crash site, reported Rapid City Journal.
After Ravnsborg called 911, Sheriff Volek arrived at the scene to assess the damage to his car and search for what he had hit.
He said they searched the area around the vehicle with flashlights but neither of them spotted Boever lying in a ditch.
'At no time did either of us suspect that I had been involved in an accident with a person,' Ravnsborg wrote.
The GOP dinner at a bar that South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (circled) attended before he killed Boever
Witnesses at the fundraiser have vouched for the attorney general that they didn't see him drinking alcohol and that he did not seem 'impaired in any way shape or form' Pictured: Ravnsborg (circled) sitting near the stage at Rooster's Bar and Grill in Redfield, Saturday night
Because Ravnsborg's car was too damaged to drive and a tow truck would take over an hour to arrive, Volek offered to let the attorney general take his personal car back to Pierre.
The following morning Ravnsborg and his chief of staff made the trip back to Highmore to return Volek's vehicle.
The pair stopped at the crash site on their way and discovered a man's body in the grass near the roadway.
'My chief of staff and I checked and it was apparent that Mr Boever was deceased,' Ravnsborg wrote.
'I immediately drove to Sheriff Volek's home to report the discovery and he accompanied me back to the scene.
'Once there, the sheriff instructed me that he would handle the investigation, and asked me to return to Pierre.'
Ravnsborg, who was alone in his 2011 Ford Taurus, insisted that he had not been drinking before he got behind the wheel and said he is 'cooperating fully with the investigation' by the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Boever's family have expressed suspicion that authorities could be working to cover up details of the incident to protect Ravnsborg. Boever is pictured second from right with relatives
Ravnsborg drove his car to the local sheriff and returned to the scene of the accident. However Hyde County Sheriff Mike Volek let the attorney general take his personal car back to Pierre because Ravnsborg's car was too damaged to drive and a tow truck would take over an hour to arrive. The car is pictured in 2017
However, questions are being asked around how the AG could have mistaken a deer for a person, particularly given the prevalence of animal collisions in the area and Ravnsborg's tendency to make frequent, long trips along the state's highways for small political events.
This defense of the AG comes as Boever's devastated relatives called the fatal crash 'fishy' and expressed concern that authorities could bungle the investigation to protect Ravnsborg - the top law enforcement official in the state.
Boever's cousins, Nick and Victor Nemec, have now said they are worried that investigators might not make a complete effort to find out the truth about what happened to him.
The Nemecs criticized authorities for being tight-lipped about their progress and for taking so long to identify Boever, even though he had been reported missing by Victor 10 hours before his body was found.
'It just seems fishy,' Nick told South Dakota News Watch. 'It just seems like they're looking for an excuse to make it less than it was.'
The Highway Patrol has remained tight-lipped - refusing to say if speed or alcohol were a factor in the crash, when Ravnsborg reported the crash or if charges are pending against him.
Read Jason Ravnsborg's full statement below:
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