South Dakota's attorney general told authorities he hit a deer with his car when he actually struck a man, officials say

• South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was involved in a fatal crash on Saturday evening, Gov. Kristi Noem announced at a Sunday press conference.
• The state's highway patrol said on Monday that Ravnsborg initially told authorities he had hit a deer.
• Authorities said they found the body of Joseph Boever on Sunday morning.

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg told authorities he had hit a deer when he had actually hit a man with his car on Saturday night, the South Dakota Highway Patrol said.

At a Sunday press conference, Gov. Kristi Noem said Ravnsborg was involved in the crash, which killed Joseph Boever, a 55-year-old South Dakota resident.

On Monday, the South Dakota Highway Patrol said that Ravnsborg initially told local authorities he thought he had hit a deer and that they found Boever's body on Sunday.

The patrol wasn't notified about Boever's death until Sunday morning, a representative told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Boever's cousin Victor Nemec told the Argus Leader that "the attorney general hit my cousin as he was walking down the side of the road and killed him."

Tim Bormann, the attorney general's chief of staff, told the Argus Leader and The New York Times that Ravnsborg was the only person in the car during the crash and that he had been on his way back from a South Dakota Republican Party event.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the matter alongside North Dakota investigators to avoid a conflict of interest because of the attorney general's position, the Argus Leader reported.

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