S.D.'s Attorney General Fatally Strikes Man With Car, Says He Thought He Hit A Deer

The top law enforcement official in South Dakota told officials that he believed he hit a deer on a rural stretch of road on Saturday night. It wasn't until the following day that it became clear Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg had fatally struck a man, and state authorities are investigating.

Ravnsborg said he discovered the body of 55-year-old Joseph Boever on Sunday when he returned to the scene of the crash. He released a two-page letter about the crash to the Argus Leader newspaper of Sioux Falls on late Monday.

The attorney general said in the statement that he was driving home at about 9:15 p.m. Saturday from the Spink County Lincoln Day Dinner, a Republican fundraising event, in the small town of Redfield.

"I didn't see what I hit and stopped my vehicle immediately to investigate," Ravnsborg said, according to the paper. He added that he thought it was "a large animal (likely a deer)."

Ravnsborg said he did not consume alcohol before, during or after the event.

He called the Hyde County sheriff to the scene and, according to authorities, told them he had been in a car-deer crash. They searched for what Ravnsborg hit but did not find anything at the time, the attorney general said in the statement.