South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (left) is being questioned by investigators. (South Dakota Department of Public Safety)
The South Dakota attorney general – who said he beat a deer last year after fatally striking a pedestrian – reportedly had the victim’s glasses in his car, according to recently released interviews.
The state’s Department of Public Security on Tuesday released recordings of investigators questioning Jason Ravnsborg about the Sept. 12 crash that killed 55-year-old Joseph Boever.
The images show how detectives Ravnsborg told during an interview on September 14 that they had discovered broken glasses on the front passenger floor of his vehicle.
During a second sit-down on September 30, interviewers again asked about the glasses and told Ravnsborg that they belonged to the victim.
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“It’s Joe’s glasses,” says an officer, referring to Boever. “So that means his face came through your windshield.”
Hearing that, Ravnsborg looked down and sighed deeply before shaking his head, the footage shows.
“I didn’t see those glasses until you showed them to me,” he said.
The officer told Ravnsborg that “the only way to get there is through the windshield.”
His face was in your windshield, Jason. Think about that. ‘
Ravnsborg insisted that he hadn’t seen the glasses until the investigators showed them – and that he really didn’t realize he’d hit a person at the time of the crash.
‘I did not see him. I haven’t seen anything, ”Ravnsborg insisted. “I didn’t know it was human until the next day.”
A detective replied, “But do you think you had any idea it was something other than a deer?”
“I just thought it was a deer.” Ravnsborg replied. “I do.”
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After the crash, Ravnsborg told authorities he thought he plowed his 2011 Ford Taurus into a deer or other large animal when he drove on US Highway 14 at approximately 10:30 PM.
He was on his way home from a GOP fundraiser at Rooster’s Bar and Grill, where visitors had the chance to win a gun bearing the name of then-President Trump, according to the GOP’s South Dakota website.
The 44-year-old Republican was charged with the incident last week and is facing three careless driving, driving a motor vehicle while using a mobile electronic device and swinging out of his lane.
Authorities said the evidence did not support more serious crimes, and Ravnsborg was not intoxicated at the time of the incident.
Ravnsborg, who was elected for his first term in 2018, was distracted when he turned toward Boever, who was walking on the roadside of the highway, according to crash investigators.
South Dakota House lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against Ravnsborg on Tuesday, following the release of the interviews and other investigative evidence.
Lawmakers argued in the impeachment resolution that Ravnsborg should be removed from office for “his crimes or offenses in office that result in death” of Boever.
Gov. Kristi Noem, also a Republican, called on Ravnsborg to step down shortly before the impeachment resolution was filed.
“With the investigation closed and charges brought, I think the attorney general should resign,” she tweeted“I’ve reviewed the material we’re releasing as of today, and I encourage others to review it too.”
But Ravnsborg’s will not resign, his spokesman Mike Deaver said.
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“As a lawyer and lieutenant colonel in the military reservations, AG Ravnsborg has fought for the rule of law and personal freedoms and hopes he will receive the same right and courtesy,” Deaver said in a statement.