Next week, on November 9, the South Dakota legislature will meet to consider the impeachment of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who killed Joseph Boever last September when he hit the Highmore man as he walked with a flashlight on the shoulder of the road Ravnsborg was driving.
The first responder to Ravnsborg's 911 call was Hyde County Sheriff Mike Volek. At the Argus Leader, Joe Sneve and Jonathan Ellis report in Sheriff who investigated fatal attorney general crash dies week ahead of impeachment probe:
A rural lawman thrust into the spotlight in the aftermath of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg's fatal crash in September 2020 has died.
Mike Volek, 68, had been the Hyde County Sheriff since first being elected to the post in 1998. He was in the middle of his sixth term as the county's top law enforcement officer at the time of his death.
The Hyde County Sheriff's Office and the South Dakota Sheriffs Association confirmed the death but were unable to provide more details.
Volek's death comes one week before the Legislature convenes a special session to determine whether Ravnsborg should be impeached for the fatal accident.
House Speaker Spencer Gosch, R-Glenham, had not heard of Volek's death and did not know if it would play a role in a potential impeachment hearing.
Volek's tenure as sheriff was mostly quiet and with few high profile criminal cases. But that changed on Sept. 12, 2020, when he responded to a 911 call made by the attorney general, who'd told an emergency dispatcher he'd struck "something" in the roadway while traveling through Highmore in the nighttime hours.
While on scene, Volek and Ravnsborg walked the ditch in the vicinity of the crash scene but did not discover what Ravnsborg had struck with the Ford Taurus he was driving. Ravnsborg later said he believed he'd struck a deer.
With the Taurus undrivable, Volek loaned Ravnsborg his personal vehicle so he could finish driving to his Pierre home. Not until the next morning when Ravnsborg returned to Highmore to drop off Volek's vehicle did he realize he'd killed 55-year-old Joe Boever, who's body was lying in the ditch near the crash site.
After discovering Boever's remains, Ravnsborg returned to Volek's home, which was near the crash scene.
In the days following, Volek declined to speak publicly about the incident, but he was interviewed by North Dakota detectives brought into the investigation to assist the South Dakota Highway Patrol's investigation.
Volek's interview has not been released to the public.
Ravnsborg was convicted in August of two misdemeanor traffic charges stemming from the crash, though neither amounted to criminal culpability for Boever's death.
The Legislature is scheduled to gather for a special session Nov. 9 to consider whether Ravnsborg should be impeached.
UPDATE: The Associated Press reports in Sheriff who responded to South Dakota AG's fatal crash dies:
The sheriff who responded to the scene of a fatal car crash caused by the South Dakota attorney general last year has died, the Hyde County Sheriff’s office said Tuesday.
The office declined to release further details about the death of Sheriff Mike Volek, but said it planned to release a statement, KELO-TV reported. He was 69 and had served as sheriff for 22 years.
Volek responded to a 911 call from Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg late on Sept. 12, 2020. At the time, Ravnsborg said he thought he hit a deer or other animal along a rural stretch of highway near Highmore. Both men checked Ravnsborg’s car and filled out paperwork documenting the damage. Volek then lent Ravnsborg his personal vehicle to drive to his home in Pierre. . . .
KELO-TV reports in South Dakota sheriff who responded to Ravnsborg crash dead at 69:
KELOLAND News has confirmed with the Hyde County Sheriff’s office that Sheriff Mike Volek has died.
The office refused to release any other details, other than to say they would be putting out a news release sometime in the future.
Volek was the first on the scene after Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg hit and killed Joe Boever on September 12, 2020. At the time, Ravnsborg said he thought he hit a deer. . . .
While we were among those who wondered how anyone could not see Boever and his flashlight before or after the crash, we offer prayers for the sheriff and his survivors.
Related posts:
- SD Supreme Court rules Sanford probe warrants to be unsealed, but names of state house special session supporters don't need disclosure
- As South Dakota turns; or, more melodrama from Kristi and Jason in the stonefaces state
- Justice for Joe Boever: widow, Ravnsborg reach confidential settlement in wrongful death lawsuit
- Proof we're not in MN anymore, Toto: Ravnsborg reviewing Noem’s meeting with daughter
- South Dakota legislators call for special session to ponder impeaching state attorney general
- Associated Press: Top lawmakers release Ravnsborg impeachment petition for special session
- Justice for Joe Boever: news about Ravnsborg impeachment; Jackley's campaign for office
- Bipartisan group of South Dakota House leaders call for Ravnsborg impeachment inquiry
- A Friday of headlines in the life of South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg
- Top South Dakota lawman: Joe Boever's killer Ravnsborg gets 7th speeding ticket since 2014
- Is anyone pleased with SD AG Jason Ravnsborg plea deal other than Team Ravnsborg?
- Remember Joe Boever: AP reports South Dakota AG Ravnsborg objects to cameras at his trial
- Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Army Reserve blocks Ravnsborg promotion due to Boever death
- Boever death: Ravnsborg didn't see face coming through glass, flashlight like beacon in grass
- Ravnsborg's lawyer enters not guilty plea; South Dakota Attorney General not present in court
- Joe Boever was killed, but Ravnsborg's attorney claims client suffering is the worst thing ever
- Justice for Joe Boever: Governor Noem calls for AG Ravnsborg's resignation; articles of impeachment filed in South Dakota House
- Attorney General Ravnsborg charged with 3 misdemeanors in crash that killed Joe Boever
- Twitter memorials: 5 months ago, South Dakota Attorney General Ravnsborg killed Joe Boever
- Daily Beast: Ravnsborg killed a man. Family members fear Joe Boever has been forgotten
- Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Noem supports using grand jury to speed up Ravnsborg killing probe
- States attorneys looking into killing of Joseph Boever by AG Ravnsborg not talking to Noem
- Rapid City Journal: After 4 months, still no decision on whether AG Ravnsborg will be charged for killing Joseph Boever
- AP: Prosecutors waiting on debris testing in SD Attorney General killing of Joseph Boever
- Governor Kristi Noem takes off her positive pants, given pace of Ravnsborg investigation
- Well, that's illuminating: South Dakota Highway Patrol’s accident report on Boever killing
- 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
- UPDATED: Joe Boever's tragic death on Hwy 14: news digest about Ravnsborg's fatal accident
Photo: Ravnsborg's Taurus, via Rapid City Journal/courtesy of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. This is the car that Sheriff Volek would have seen at the scene of the crash. From the New York Times' transcription:"“We know that his face came through your windshield,” one investigator said. The vehicle also had an imprint from at least part of the man’s body on the hood, an investigator said, adding that “at some point he rolls off and slides into the ditch.”
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