On Monday, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was home to deliver an update on the investigation of the fatal crash in which state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg hit and killed a pedestrian, Joe Boever.
In the Argus Leader, Joe Sneve reports in Report: Attorney General was distracted when he struck, killed pedestrian:
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was distracted while driving when he struck and killed a pedestrian in Hyde County.
But it's yet to be seen if the state's 44-year-old top law enforcement official will face charges, as a few loose ends remain in the investigation into the fatal crash that began 50 days ago.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Public Safety Sec. Craig Price in a joint news conference in Pierre Monday told reporters that the Highway Patrol's investigation, aided by investigators from North Dakota and Wyoming, is largely complete. But the nature of Ravnsborg's distraction at the time of the crash, the exact time of 911 call, and the victim's autopsy and toxicology report are still pending, they said.
"Although there are a few remaining things that still need to be done, much of the investigation is complete,” Noem said.. . .
Read the detailed story, which includes the crash report, at the Argus Leader.
In the Rapid City Journal, Arielle Zionts reported in AG was 'distracted' when he crashed into and killed man walking with flashlight:
The South Dakota attorney general was "distracted" when he drove into a highway shoulder Sept. 12, crashing into and killing a man walking with a light, according to the secretary of the Department of Public Safety.
Secretary Craig Price shared this information during a Monday morning news conference in Pierre with Gov. Kristi Noem standing at his side.
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg hit and killed Joe Boever at 10:21 p.m. while driving on U.S. Highway 14, just west of the intersection with SD Highway 47 and the town of Highmore, according to the accident report.
“Evidence shows that Mr. Boever was walking on the north shoulder of U.S. Highway 14 carrying a light,” Price said. “While Mr. Ravnsborg was traveling westbound, the investigation shows that he was distracted, entered the north shoulder of the U.S. Highway 14 and struck Mr. Boever with his vehicle."
Ravnsborg was “distracted” and failed "to keep in proper lane," the accident report says. A diagram of the crash shows Boever — a 55-year-old from Highmore — walking in the shoulder and Ravnsborg hitting him while driving in the shoulder, not in the lane. The shoulder is more than 10.5-feet wide, Price said. . . .
In another article posted by the Argus Leader on Monday, Sneve reports in Here's where Ravnsborg's fatal crash account doesn't square with official report:
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg told a 911 dispatcher the night of Sept. 12 that whatever it was that'd he'd struck with his vehicle had been in the middle of the road at the time of the crash.
But that's not what investigators say happened the night 55-year-old Joe Boever was killed along Highway 14 in Hyde County.
Authorities Monday released the South Dakota Highway Patrol's crash report, which says the first-term Republican attorney general was distracted at the time he struck Boever with the 2011 Ford Taurus he was driving.
The crash report also provides details that appear to conflict with the account Ravnsborg gave to a 911 dispatcher when he initially reported the incident.
In the 911 call, made available last month by the Highway Patrol, Ravnsborg told the dispatcher he wasn't sure what he'd hit with his vehicle but that whatever it was, "it was in the middle of the road" and "it was right in the roadway."
But the Highway Patrol's crash report states that Boever had been in the north shoulder of the roadway at the time of impact.
"DRIVER ... ENTERED THE NORTH SHOULDER WHILE TRAVELING WESTBOUND. UNIT #2 (PEDESTRIAN) WAS WALKING ON THE NORTH SHOULDER," the crash report, written in all capital letters, reads.
That finding by investigators also doesn't appear to square with the answer Ravnsborg gave when the dispatcher asked where his vehicle was located at the time he placed the 911 call. Ravnsborg told the dispatcher that his vehicle wasn't in the roadway, but implied that he'd driven it off the road after the crash. . . .
Reaction to report
We find ourselves agreeing with Cory Allen Heidelberger at the Dakota Free Press. He writes in Boever Had a Flashlight When Distracted Ravnsborg Killed Him at Ditch’s Edge:
. . . Joe Boever was carrying a light. He was walking at the edge of the shoulder, close to the ditch. He was trying to get to his truck that he’d left in the ditch earlier that night. The police report suggests he was trying to get their safely.
And distracted driver Jason Ravnsborg drifted fully into the shoulder and killed Joe Boever.
Ravnsborg lied at least once in his September 9-1-1 phone call, a call that already contradicted the story he told on September 14 in his only public statement since he killed Joe Boever.
I am bothered that Ravsnborg lied. I am irked that our Governor Noem can look at these facts and not call for Ravnsborg to resign. I am annoyed that this killer is still drawing his $118,603.03 annual salary from us taxpayers.
But I am horrified, and gravely sad for Boever’s family, at the plain fact that Jason Ravnsborg killed a man… and that so far, he has done nothing to atone for his fatal crime.
Jason Ravnsborg, you are morally obliged to resign immediately from your position as South Dakota’s chief law enforcement officer. If you cannot take responsibility for your fatal violation of the law, you cannot be trusted and you does not deserve to be in charge of holding other criminals responsible for their crimes.
Jason, you killed a man. Resign now, and prepare to face the judge.
Harsh? Boever is dead.
Related Posts:
- UPDATED: Joe Boever's tragic death on Hwy 14: news digest about Ravnsborg's fatal accident
- South Dakota News Watch: Crash experts question Ravnsborg’s car-deer explanation
- SD News Watch: State's criminal & civil traffic laws favor drivers over pedestrians in collisions
Photo: A photograph of Jason Ravnsborg's car taken some time after the Sept. 12 crash.
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