Officials in South Dakota on Tuesday released the 911 call and toxicology reports in an investigation into a fatal car wreck involving the state’s attorney general.
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) killed a pedestrian last month in an automobile accident, according to a previous report.
A preliminary autopsy report showed the victim, 55-year-old Joseph Boever, suffered injuries “both internally and externally,” South Dakota Department of Public Safety Cabinet Secretary Craig Price said in a press conference Tuesday, CNN reported.
Ravnsborg’s chief of staff, Timothy Bormann, in a statement issued last month called the crash “a tragic accident.”
One day after the incident, Ravnsborg gave officials a blood sample in which his blood alcohol content was zero percent.
When asked why a blood sample was not administered the night of the accident, Price said, “I’m not going to speculate on the work of others … I know that once our office became involved, which was the next day … we worked efficiently to go ahead and get that information.”
The incident occurred on Sept. 12, and the 911 call released this week shows Ravnsborg told dispatchers he “hit something” that was in the middle of the road.
Ravnsborg initially told officers he had hit a deer after his car sustained damages from the collision. Boever’s body was discovered the next morning, according to the department.
Price said that a final autopsy report could take several weeks to complete. The investigation is taking longer due to North Dakota investigators’ involvement, which requires buffering room for travel times.