Man hit by South Dakota AG died of severe injuries, officials say

Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Officials have released the autopsy report for the man who was killed while walking along a road last month when he was hit by South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, as he was driving home.

South Dakota Public Safety Secretary Craig Price made the announcement Tuesday during a press conference on the investigation into the death of 55-year-old Joseph Boever.

Last month, Gov. Kristi Noem said an investigation had been opened into a crash on the night of Sept. 12 involving Ravnsborg that resulted in Boever's death.

Ravnsborg said he was driving home from a dinner when he struck what he thought was a deer. He said he was the one who called authorities and found Boever's body at the crash site the following day. He said he hadn't been drinking at the dinner.

"Mr. Boever's cause of death, as outlined in a preliminary autopsy report, was traumatic injuries due to a pedestrian motor vehicle crash," he told reporters Tuesday. "Injuries were extensive, both internally and externally."

Further details will be included in a full autopsy report that may take up to several weeks to complete, he said.

Price also said a toxicology report of a blood sample Ravnsborg had supplied showed no alcohol in his system.

Asked if a blood sample should have been taken the night of the crash, Price said he wouldn't "speculate on the work of others" but added that once he became involved "we worked efficiently to go ahead and get that information."

Officials released the audio and a transcript of Ravnsborg's 911 call, during which he told the dispatcher he wasn't sure what he hit, stating "it was in the middle of the road."

"It sure hit me," he said in the two-minute recording. "Smashed my windshield."

"On no," said the dispatcher. "Okay, do you think it was a deer or something?"

"I have no idea," he said.

Noem, who is overseeing the case, told reporters Ravnsborg has not been placed on administrative leave.