South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg Facing Calls For Resignation Over Deadly Car Crash

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) is facing calls to resign, as lawmakers are in the midst of filing a resolution to “remove him from such office for his crimes or three misdemeanors in office causing the death.”

Just last week, Ravnsborg was charged with careless driving, using a mobile electronic device and failing to stay in his lane. Each of these charges are misdemeanors, meaning Ravnsborg could be facing a penalty of as little as 30 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Officials have released videos of police interviews regarding a car crash Ravnsborg was involved in last year, resulting in the death of Highmore, S.D. native Joe Boever. In one of the videos, an investigator states firmly: “We know that his face came through your windshield.”

Ravnsborg has claimed that he believed he hit a deer.

“I am thinking it is a deer at this point, but I did not see anything,” Ravnsborg told investigators. “And then, quite frankly, wham. I hit, the incident happened. I never saw anything until the impact.”

When discussing his return to the site of the accident a day later, Ravnsborg said: “I initially thought I saw, it looked like a fawn or a deer in the ditch. But then I come up. It was the man. And he is not good. I mean, he is dead.”

Regarding the assertion that Boever’s face “came through [his] windshield,” Ravnsborg maintained, “I never saw him. I just believed it was a deer.”

Gov. Kristi Noem (R) said on Tuesday, “I believe the attorney general should resign.”

Article by Elizabeth Letsou