SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — South Dakota has released tapes of interviews investigators conducted with Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg about the fatal crash that prompted his impeachment proceedings.
Ravnsborg was charged with three misdemeanors after striking and killing Joseph Boever with his car in September. The tapes include two interviews from September between Ravnsborg and North Dakota agents looking into the case.
Ravnsborg initially told the investigators he was not using his phone at the exact time of the crash but glanced at the phone to check the time earlier during the drive. He later said “it’s possible” that he could have checked his email while driving before the crash. At about the 50-minute mark of the second video, investigators told Ravnsborg data from his phone show he used the phone to view news sites and check email minutes before the crash.
“I remember looking at them, but that’s when I set my phone down, prior to [the crash],” Ravnsborg said when presented with the data.
Ravnsborg described the crash elsewhere in the tapes, saying he “never saw anything” and did not brake or swerve before the impact.
Investigators later told Ravnsborg they found a pair of broken glasses in his car. Ravnsborg doesn’t wear glasses.
Articles of impeachment against Ravnsborg were filed in the South Dakota House Tuesday afternoon, hours after Gov. Kristi Noem called on Ravnsborg to resign.
