If we can’t impeach Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg for killing a Democrat, we probably can’t impeach him for almost killing cops.
Twice.
Less than two months before he killed Joe Boever.
Really.
Jacob Newton digs through the Ravnsborg investigation file and finds that on Thursday, July 23, 2020, and Sunday, September 6, 2020, Ravnsborg nearly crashed his car into two different police vehicles and got off with warnings both times. Newton posts narratives from South Dakota Highway Patrolman Nathan Moore and Huron Police Officer Tanner Dornacher; I highlight key points in yellow:
Notice that these incidents both took place after sundown, at 10:05 p.m. in July in Pierre and 8:45 p.m. in September in Huron. One would expect a law enforcement officer to be extra attentive when driving after sundown.
Note also that these evening stops happened in two different vehicles, each with regular plates, but each allegedly a state vehicle. How many state vehicles does one Attorney General need, and how much business does the Attorney General need to conduct in those state vehicles after hours?
In the July incident, Ravnsborg put Trooper Moore (and anyone else who might have been out at 10:05 p.m. on a Thirsty Thursday) at risk of a head-on collision on the main drag in Pierre.
In the July 23 Pierre stop, Ravnsborg claimed he didn’t see Trooper Moore’s oncoming patrol car and wasn’t aware that he’d almost plowed into the trooper’s car with his SUV. To not see a well-known curve next to the Ramkota on the primary highway through the state capital requires complete inattention.
Ravnsborg appears to have exhibited similar inattention in his September 6 near-miss in Huron. On the Sunday evening of the State Fair, Ravnsborg pulled out of a two-way stop on the old highway south of the railroad tracks, a road that leads to one of the major fair campgrounds, into the oncoming and uncontrolled traffic on the main street leading to the western entrances to the fairgrounds, forcing Officer Dornacher to defend against a crash.
After executing this dangerous maneuver, Ravnsborg creates more peril by pulling over for the flashing lights behind him on the left side of the westbound portion of divided Highway 14, parking that Officer Dornacher recognized as “weird” and dangerous.
And when Officer Dornacher approached, the first thing Ravnsborg offered the officer was not his license and registration; it was his badge. As in many previous traffic stops, Ravnsborg’s first impulse was to identify himself as Attorney General.
To emphasize his arrogant cluelessness, even after the Huron policeman made clear he was letting Ravnsborg off with a verbal warning, Ravnsborg tried litigating his case, saying he thought the intersection was a four-way stop, not a two-way stop. The sight of a police car proceeding northbound toward the intersection at normal speed, showing no sign of stopping, would signal to any driver looking both ways that, stop sign or no, the driver ought to wait a moment to avoid a crash. But again, Ravnsborg’s eyes appear to have been doing something other than paying attention to the signs and other people on the road.
And when Officer Dornacher pointed out Ravnsborg’s “weird” parking along the median and said he would stay parked behind him with his flashers on to make sure Ravnsborg didn’t cause an accident as he pulled out, Ravnsborg seemed to mouth back with an odd question about whether Highway 14 has two westbound lanes and whether he could drive in either lane.
We civilian drivers understand that, when we’ve clearly screwed up and the cop who sees us graces us with a mere warning, the proper and complete response is, “Thank you, officer. I’m sorry, officer. Won’t happen again, officer.” But Ravnsborg’s response is to flash his badge, make excuses, and give the officer lip. Apparently toting an Attorney General’s badge entitles one to think that even a verbal warning is too much of a consequence for one’s Highness. If Ravnsborg hadn’t parked in such a weird spot on the main highway inviting bigger traffic disasters and the high call volume of the last night for State Fair-goers to live it up around Huron, Officer Dornacher might well have responded to Ravnsborg’s lip by rescinding his grace and giving Ravnsborg a ticket.
But Officer Dornacher didn’t… and six nights later, 68 miles down Highway 14, Ravnsborg’s inattention to the road led to a far worse traffic incident, a fatal crash whose proper consequences he is still fighting to escape.
Jason, if there’s one thing you’re good at—and I’m not convinced there is—it’s not driving.
There’s a big problem with law enforcement not enforcing the law on white people in South Dakota. Janklow murdered someone after decades of lawless behavior. Noem has had countless stops for lawless driving, but so far hasn’t killed anyone. Raveneborg killed Joe Boever and skated away with a tap on the wrist.
Had Police stuffed and cuffed this Ravnesborg in Pierre and Huron, he would have been relieved of his driving privileges and not been behind his weapon of choice to kill Mr. Boever.
It’s not apparent that Jase-O is good at anything, except being obsequious. I’m curious about the job skills he exhibited that led to him acquiring the insignia of an Army lieutenant-colonel.
In iowa, at least, all stop signs at 4-way stops say four way stop on them. Maybe Ravnsborg can’t read.
Apparently toting an Attorney General’s badge entitles one to think that even a verbal warning is too much of a consequence for one’s Highness.
I have no doubt the present makeup of SCOTUS would agree a verbal warning is too much of an undue burden for a magat to carry around.
I guess you CAN walk back ‘from dead man’s curve”…see Jan & Dean, 1960s hit song…
Well…he’s obviously confused and disoriented much of the time, or at least at night when he is driving. We are told that with Mr. Ravnsborg drugs and alcohol are not suspected in any of these events. Which leaves a severe vision or neurological problem, or he has an attention deficit disorder. Or….he’s distracted by his devices and doesn’t care if he is causing a major hazard. Or…he is distracted by his own sense of self importance which places his needs of the moment first and the potential hazard his impulsiveness causes as a minor consideration. That he is a continuing menace behind the wheel, having caused one death, is well documented.
The moment any person is above the law, then the whole thing’s corrupt and it’s all a joke. If any person can do it, we all can do it.
We have to make it safe for the kids and show them some competence. They’re always watching. Those stinkin little turkeys.
Oh yeah, day and night, Mr Ravnsborg; they’re watching you.
Lead us by good example. No wonder our state has so many jailbirds; just reflecting our leadership, AG.
Other clear examples of the ‘Just Us’ system working depending upon privilege – having privilege. This behavior has been enabled long before now as well.
Oddly, grudznick has heard that Mr. Ravnsborg, who should be drummed out of the service in the General Attorney’s office and also the Army, was in charge of transportation in his Army duties. I suppose there he was issued a driver. Maybe that’s what should happen with the General Attorney’s office. This Mr. Borman fellow seems a decent driver, he should be in charge of all travels.
Republicans always drive fast and with no care. They have more important things to do.
Jason Ravnsborg is a public menace and anyone on the roadways when he is out and about is taking their life in their hands.
What person when pulled over on a four lane divided highway doesn’t steer to the far right side of the roadway? Why would you pull to the left side of your side of the road and park next to the median? It is a stupid and unexplainable maneuver, creats a potential road hazard and is the type of thing an inexperienced teenage driver might do.
Usually grudznick does not agree, entirely, with Mr. Nemec. However often he seems a voice of reason and has solid positions, and Mr. Nemec (a fellow Nicholas) may dislike me more for saying this, but this is one where grudznick and Mr. Nemec are in lock step:
Mr. Ravnsborg is indeed a public menace. A threat to the general public. Of this, there is no doubt.
Cory writes:
How do you know Newton found this information by digging through the investigation file?
And if the investigation file was his source, would you say Newton should have cited it as such in his article, rather than directly regurgitating the officers’ claims in his own voice as unquestionable facts?
I’ve read several police reports about myself that were riddled with false statements, and it appears that neither of the officers’ narratives was filed until more than six weeks after the crash with Joe Boever.
Mr. Evans types:
grudznick laughs and buys a round for the saner fellows at Steerfish Steak and Smoke.
Mr. Evans, why don’t you try reading the many pages of the investigation report rather than just spouting off? It is amazing the things you can learn if you try.
Right on, Nick. Now that the investigation file is public, there is no room left for speculation. All arguments about Ravnsborg’s guilt and whether he should be impeached (not to mention sitting in prison for manslaughter) must start from the evidence on the record.
Here we have evidence that in the seven weeks before he killed Joe Boever, Ravnsborg had two near misses with police cars within seven weeks before his crash into Joe Boever. That frequency of near misses with police suggest Ravnsborg is a dangerously inattentive driver. And remember, these two near misses happened with law enforcement who could pull Ravnsborg over and put the incidents on the record. If I may speculate for just a moment, how many more times in those seven weeks did Ravnsborg pull out in front of someone or swerve in his lane and cause civilian drivers to have to engage in evasive maneuvers?
Exactly Cory. If you are pulled over for two near misses on cops in just a few weeks time and shortly there after actually kill someone because you drove well outside your lane of travel, how many other unreported instances of dangerously inattentive driving went unreported? Jason Ravnsborg is a menace to the motoring public and any nearby pedestrians.
We haven’t even begun to address his habit of pulling rank every chance he gets. If “I’m the Attorney General” is not the first thing out of his mouth, it isn’t far behind. In the West Point, Nebraska case not only did he invoke his status as Attorney General of South Dakota but he also had to toss in that he was the commanding officer of the local Army Reserve unit.
His driving hasn’t gotten any better after killing Joe Boever, a few weeks before his sentencing for two misdemeanors he was stopped and ticketed for going 20mph+ over the limit on a street through a residential area in Pierre.
Not only is he obviously an incel, Mr. Ravnsborg presents with the symptoms often attributed to sociopathy.
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/signs-sociopath
Nick, our statistical observation on Ravnsborg’s dangerous driving may apply to Ravnsborg’s self-serving disregard for the truth. If he’ll lie to police investigators about what happened on the night of September 12, 2020, how many more lies is he willing to tell to other people in other situations just to save his own bacon and promote his selfish agenda?
https://www.rawstory.com/mitch-mcconnel-trump-2024/
McConnell stuns reporter after he can’t name one crime that would nullify ‘obligation’ to vote for Trump
What did I tell you?
The whole party is this corrupt.
If this situation was applied to any of us commoners the conversations in the states attorney’s office would have been “Look at this person’s driving history, we need to throw the book at them!!”
But no, totally an insiders good ol boy n girl slap on the wrist.
Mr. Evans please quit dishonoring the memory and life of Joe. Your theories are wrong, Ravnborgs driving history, the facts as determined and presented by professionals tell the true story. Your resentfulness against law enforcement for being convicted of stalking shows in all your posts. That is what you are doing here. Stop it.
Ravnsborg was/is in charge of transportation in the Guard??? Can’t make this stuff up.
Spike, yeah, I wonder how often you or I would walk away from nearly crashing into cop car without having to walk the line and take a breathalzyer test. Maybe we’d get lucky once, but I doubt we’d get that lucky twice in a row.
“Spike” writes to me:
I was never criminally charged, much less convicted, but yes, the reckless lies of arrogant law enforcement agents destroyed my teaching career, and my social life, and ultimately my dream of raising a family.
My resentment isn’t Christian, and I’m trying to do better.
Just another metaphor for Republicans and Trumpism.
I apologize and stand corrected Mr. Evans on you being charged. I am sure your experience was not good as was the young lady’s who requested the protection order. You trying to say Joe Boever committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a car that was on the shoulder of the road, being driven by a driver with a history of driving negligence, is an insult to Joe’s life and memory. And it is just not true. Don’t let your animosity towards law enforcement cloud your judgement of the facts we are seeing in Joe’s situation. Have a good day.
Mr. Evans I’m sure if you focused your attentions on age appropriate women you would be able to find a woman who would have you, although most women who are age appropriate for you are now entering or through menopause. Time marches steadily on and crazy is scary.
Kurt Evans: it may be the hand of the lord at play in “ultimately [destroying your] dream of raising a family.” The sound you hear is sane people in SoDak cheering.
In a complimentary event, toady Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom weighed in on the fracas: “I hope the legislature impeaches Jason Ravnsborg.” If that isn’t a case of a stopped watch coincidentally displaying the correct time….
Yesterday, on “in the Moment” (SDPB radio), Kevin Woster proposed that Jase-O initiate a series of appearances in which he decries distracted driving. That’s about as likely as Bill Janklow sending a message from the beyond apologizing for being an unrelenting asswipe.
Interesting summary of Ravnsborg’s driving (and ticket avoiding prowess) from Mitchell Republic……
https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/south-dakota/ravnsborg-named-in-27-traffic-stop-reports-across-three-states-resulting-in-12-tickets-15-warnings
There is certainly nothing with dating menopausal women, Nick. Please don’t knock older women and it really says a lot about someone when they bring up another person’s past police record up just because they disagree with their views.
Just ignore Spike and Nick, Kurt. They are not worth it.
No way Jenny. Kurt is twisting his “investigation” of Joe because of his animosity towards law enforcement. I am disappointed that you would defend his ridiculous “views” on Joe when its obvious the basis of them are because of his experiences.
Well there are certainly a lot of bad police officers out there as we have witnessed in the recent years, Spike.
White good-looking women can play up a sob story and make it believable as most men think with their you know what’s. All attractive white women know this.
And I meant there is nothing “wrong” with dating menopausal women in my first sentence above. Nick put menopausal women into the conversation and I am just standing up for older women.
Nemec is really one to talk calling Evans crazy.
Evans puts his vulnerability out there and wanting to have had a family and you all go after him. People’s true colors really show when you all attack him personally for opening up. Disgusting, and I know my late cousin Joe Boever wouldn’t have stood for that. He was a quiet sensitive man with some mental illnesses of his own so knock it off. Everybody has issues, we are all flawed.
Joe Boever would be horrified that his death is still in the news. Let it Go, let him RIP. Enough!
Check your reading comrehension Jenny, I expressed no animosity toward menopausal women. My point is that Mr. Evans has a tendency to stalk women much younger than he is, it is sad and kind of creepy. If he wants female companionship he should focus his efforts on women his own age, but if a man wants a family and waits too long all the women his age are past child bearing age. Some men accept that simple fact, give up the family dream and concentrate their efforts on age appropriate women, some men don’t and persue much younger women. It can get kind of creepy, and some women have to get court ordered restraining orders.
Mr. Ravnsborg and Mr. Evans can likely find each other on Grindr where all the groomers
meetmeat.27 traffic stops in 3 states and according to Evans Joe just happened to choose Ravnborgs car to jump out in front of on the side of the road after several other cars had passed him. He deserves justice. Evans is the one not leaving Joe to rest in peace. Joe is not resting, he’s dead at the hands of an idiot walking free that needs to be held accountable. I don’t get it Jenny, I’ve tolerated Evans off the wall theories here before because its just a blog really. But now he’s playing crime scene investigator defending a man guilty of gross negligence resulting in a man’s death and shows no remorse. And he’s being protected by politicans and cronies. I don’t like that. Tell Evans to knock it off. Joe would be horrified if he knew his death was still in the news? Joe can’t be horrified by anything. But maybe he would be horrified that the Attoney General for this state tore his body into pieces got a traffic ticket. That’s what horrifies many of us and we are alive.
It’s rather quite creeoy that Larry,Nick and Spike seem to know all about Kurt’s personal life.
Nick is so easy to read and I purposely left the child bearing age of women out of my comment to get a response from him. I’m sure he was typing as fast as his old farm hands would let him to get his tired old reading comprehension line out there.
I understand South Dakota is in backwoods country and very behind in times but these days in civilized parts of the country where there are world renown doctors such as the Mayo Clinic, women in their 40s and 50s get pregnant all the time with IVF and freezing their eggs. You really need to get with the times, Nick.
Just Let Kurt Evans have his far fetched theory about Boever. Ya’ll are never going to change his views anyway.
So Jason has been pulled over roughly once a year for 26 years, and he’s been cited 12 times since he was, what, 19 years old? This is a smear job.
The day before the crash, Joe had a prescription filled with 90 pills of the psychotropic drug lorazepam, which can cause suicidal ideations. The prescribed dosage was up to three pills per day. There were 12 pills left after the crash.
On the evening of the crash, Joe drove his truck into a bale beside the highway hard enough to force the grill guard back into the grill. Neither he nor the cousin who picked him up reported that crash.
Joe left town on foot after dark, didn’t ask anyone for a ride, declined a ride offered by a passing motorist, and never told anyone why he was out there.
Joe’s impact with the right side of the car would have angled it from the driving lane to the shoulder, or from the shoulder to the ditch, unless Jason was already steering back to the left when it occurred.
Jason says he was in the driving lane, he hadn’t set the cruise control yet, he looked down at the speedometer, he heard a sudden bang, and he fought to see through the shattered windshield and keep the car on the pavement.
It still seems to me that Joe probably dove onto the hood in the driving lane, and that the collision on the shoulder probably happened as Jason steered back to the left, when Joe’s right leg slid off the front of the hood.
What evidence supposedly contradicts that scenario?
‘renowned’ I meant.
Geesh, Evans is infatuated with Ravnsborg. Clearly, this is a love story…. begin Love Story theme. Which one is the preppy? Who knows.
Mr. Evans has a beef with the pharmaceutical industry and modern medicine because Zoloft, Prozac, Effexor, Ritalin and Paxil all seem to weave through gun violence. Mr. Evans’ favorite media, Natural News, is a capitalist rag with ties to Herbalife and its editor is freaking nuts and a delusional christian wacko who rails against the medical industry.
There have been movements afoot in red state legislatures to limit lawsuits against medical providers and the pharmaceutical industry usurping the power of end-users to sue for damages caused by their products: the gun industry is already immune to such class actions even as they collude in violent deaths. Jenny Boever may, indeed, have a case to sue the drug manufacturer.
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/15/1080819088/sandy-hook-victims-families-settlement-remington
Remington Arms was successfully sued by Sandy Hook families.
Ravnsborg has been picked up far more than once a year since he was elected. He has cited his title far more than once a year to get out of traffic tickets. And he has killed more people with his reckless driving than everyone in this comment section put together. That’s not a smear job; that’s a recognition that Ravnsborg should not have a driver’s license. His abuse of office also indicates he should not have a law license.
Mr. Evans, watch the SDHP briefing, they addressed the forces involved in a 4000lb vehicle traveling at 68mph hitting a 160lb person traveling at maybe 2mph. It isn’t enough to deploy the airbags or even activate the seatbelt lock.
Joe Boever was walking along the grass line of an 11′ wide road shoulder. Several witnesses testified to this. Joe Boever’s intoxication with beyond therapeutic levels of lorazepam would reduced his ability to take an expertly timed suicide leap across a wide road shoulder to dive into the windshield of an oncoming car. At least one witness who stopped to see if Joe wanted a ride said he seemed intoxicated and unstable on his feet. In other words an unlikely candidate for the record breaking broad jumps you are want to attribute to him.
Jenny, your beef is with Mr. Evans. Tell him about fertility treatments for older women, if he was aware of them maybe he would quit picking on women decades younger and concentrate his charms on age appropriate women. Of course this assumes he finds an older woman who even wants to have a baby in her 40s or 50s, and since fertility treatments are not covered by insurance it assumes he has the financial ability to pay for the treatments. Instead he haunts young women in their 20s to the extent they get orders of protection against him.
From the Fargo Forum:
“Ravnsborg named in 27 traffic stop reports across 3 states resulting in 12 tickets, 15 warnings”
https://www.inforum.com/news/south-dakota/ravnsborg-named-in-27-traffic-stop-reports-across-three-states-resulting-in-12-tickets-15-warnings?fbclid=IwAR3BFmHBtwAHrAxATRCxAZp7lw1savP_eFyW6uEqNW8SfNgAg17roFJGnLs
Actually, Nick, if you have good insurance, they will pay a portion of IVF. Don’t assume certain things you don’t know anything about.
It is true that a lot of older men are into younger women. You can see from these comments that the old boys are getting after Evans for being into younger women, but maybe it’s just like the Republicans hating gays obsession, in that there are high rates of closet homsexuals in the party. These old boys secretly could very well most likely be into younger women too but just won’t admit it. Everyone has their lonely sick fantasies.
Why was Nick kicked out of the Caoital chamber? Did his temper cause dysfunction? Did the Capital oolice have to escort.him out? Is this rumor true?
Back in my late teens (early 70s) I received 2 moving violations in a short period of time and received a letter from iowa DOT saying maybe I needed remedial drivers training lessons.
I couldn’t trade off my position as AG or anything else back then. Magat pols need remedial drivers training, from South Duhkota’s guv on down. Time t stop coddling the moddles of magat politics and one party rule. I thought everyone was equal in the eyes of the law, but, apparently some magats are much more equal than the peons.
Jenny, police records are public information and can easily be found by an internet search…you don’t even have to pay for it. Your record is there for everyone to see. I believe you are probably the one who is spreading the rumors.
I read on the news that at one point Nick was not allowed in the chamber or something of the sort. I am not making anything up Mary Jo. It was in one of the blogs or the news.
I don’t know what your point is except only toxic people spend their lonely time trying to make someone look bad with looking up police records and putting it out there for everyone to see.
“Make people look bad.”
By telling people what they did? God forbid!
Can we just marinate for a second on the absolutely inane response that showing the AG’s constant traffic violations is completely irrelevant to him killing a man in a traffic violation? This isn’t a courtroom, Jenny. Character evidence restrictions don’t apply here. But apparently providing context is “toxic” now.
Information is toxic, everyone. Ignore it!
“or something of the sort” does not exactly tell the truth, does it?
I’d written:
*grille … Mea maxima culpa.
Cory writes:
How do you claim to know why Jason identified himself as the attorney general? Did you go to the Craig Price Academy of Mind Reading? How do you know Jason wasn’t explaining why the vehicle registration didn’t have his name on it? How do you know he didn’t think he might have been targeted after Joe hit his car? How do you explain the times he didn’t identify himself as the attorney general? Did he want those tickets?
Yes, that’s a smear job. Jason wasn’t driving recklessly, and Joe was in the roadway to kill himself.
Nick Nemec writes:
When have I said anything about broad jumps?
Nick veers far off topic:
The one (1) woman who got a protection order against me after falsely accusing me of stalking her is now in her 40s. For the record, I’m 51. The SDSU campus police “helped” my “victim” about as much as Governor Noem is “helping” Joe’s family.
Mr. Evans, how old was she when she felt so threatened by you that she got the protection order? Do you regret being so creepy and persistant that she felt her only recourse was a protection order? Creepy persistence seems to be a reoccurring trait of yours.
Do you realize that even though Jason Ravnsborg initially claimed to the 911 operator that he was in the middle of the road that he later pled no contest to a charge of driving outside his lane and was found guilty of that charge? Yet you persist in your unsupported by the facts claim that Joe Boever jumped? dived? ran? in front of Ravnsborg’s vehicle while Ravnsborg traveling in the westbound lane.
Kurt does make a point that Joe’s crash with his pickup should have been reported immediately.
Now Cory, I am prepared and ready to to be badmouthed the rest of the day here from all the DFP boys about how dare I speak out against a deceased man. I am also ready to hear how I have a crush on Kurt, a man I have never met.
The fact is, if Joe had reported his crash immediately instead of calling his cousins, he would still be alive.
The fact is, if Joe had reported his crash immediately instead of calling his cousins, he would still be alive.
Prove it! This has got to be the dumbest thing said about the murder of Joe Boever.
Maybe if you stopped trying to make this about you every chance you get, we could move on, Jenny. Just ask for attention if you want it.
I AM NOW PREPARED TO BE LAMBASTED FOR SUCH A STATEMENT, LO, HOW DID I GET ON THIS CROSS?!?!?!
Oh, you mean I put myself up here?
Kurt: on title: on the rare occasions when I have interacted with law enforcement, I have never opened with, “I’m French teacher/Dakota Free Press writer/Master of Information System/chairman of SD Voice….” One invokes one’s official title for a limited number of reasons. An elected official invoking his title emphasizes his power to the law enforcement personnel with whom he is interacting in a situation where his official position should be irrelevant—the danger of and responsibility for blowing through a stop sign or drifting out of one’s lane and nearly crashing into a cop car doesn’t have anything to do with the elected position of the inattentive driver.
Dicta, good call. Some love to claim they are being crucified.
Jenny, I don’t think Kurt’s comment about Boever’s failure to report his crash has any bearing on the responsibility Ravnsborg bears for killing Boever. Other witnesses told NDBCI they saw Boever walking along the side of the road; if any one of them had stopped to offer Boever a ride, had delayed him just a few seconds, Boever would not have been at the spot in shoulder where the inattentive Ravnsborg struck him. If Boever himself hadn’t gone for a drive that evening, he wouldn’t have gone in the ditch and wouldn’t have been in the area when Ravnsborg raced through. If Nick Nemec had worked harder when he was in the Legislature to secure funding to make Highway 14 a divided four-lane highway, Ravnsborg would have had more room to drift and might not have been all the way north of the fog line when he passed the pedestrian Boever. We can point to infinite Sliding-Doors moments and not change the actual moral responsibility for what happened at the moment of the crash.
Jason Ravnsborg wasn’t paying attention while he was driving. Through his inattention, he killed Joe Boever. Ravnsborg has proceeded to exploit his position, as he did in a string of traffic errors where he luckily didn’t harm anyone, to try to avoid the consequences of his irresponsible driving.
Had Joe Boever stopped to pee on the back side of one of the hay bales in the ditch the inattentive Ravnsborg would not have hit him, instead Ravnsborg might have taken the ditch himself and also hit a hay bale.
Had Ravnsborg stopped for gas at either gas station at the 14-47 junction he would have been stopped long enough that Joe Boever would have been off the road and taking the short cut cutting across the used machinery lot at Titan Machinery
The possibilities are endless.
See how restless the boys are, Cory. Such sad little lives they must lead to pounce on such an insignificant opinion on the DFP.
If anyone is making it about themselves then pity them. It sure wouldn’t be me but I could think of a few people.
If anyone thinks they are being crucified, it would be you Nick, but again that is just my opinion. Don’t let me upset your day.
For insurance purposes one should always report a crash.
Have a good day, everyone. Stay safe. The roads are dangerous in SD
Can you just not make these threads about you and Nick’s interpersonal problems? Go see a friggin counselor and stop making us a part of your family issues. Literally nothing good comes from it except the satisfaction you get from flinging feces at each other.
I made an opinion about reporting the accident right away, Dicta It wasn’t about Nick.
Cory comments nicely about my opinion. You guys come at me ready to fight.
You guys just can’t get it through your heads that you are never going to get through to Kurt. Why even try? Just give it up.
Please forget I ever commented.
Soujth Duhkotuh law on auto accident reporting….. Do I Need to Contact the Police? In most cases, yes. In South Dakota, drivers must report all motor vehicle accidents that result in an injury, death, or an estimated $2,000 or more in damage.
I’d responded to Nick Nemec’s smears:
Nick writes:
She told me she was already seeing someone, so I didn’t think it mattered how old she was, and I never asked, but she got the protection order when she was a senior in college, so she was presumably at least 21.
No. She testified under oath that the main reason she was seeking the protection order was because of what another woman had said about me. I think I know who the other woman was, but to this day I don’t know what she was saying about me, or why. The SDSU campus police had refused to tell me, and to my great disappointment, my attorney didn’t ask anyone during the hearing.
Yes. Do you realize that a “no contest” plea means the defendant admits he’s likely to be convicted but explicitly doesn’t admit guilt?
It seems obvious that Judge John Brown had already made up his mind. He excluded Joe’s medical records, denied Jason a jury trial, and despite accepting the “no contest” plea, initially sought to sentence him to lecture young drivers on the dangers of distracted driving.
My claim that Joe ran and dived onto Jason’s hood in the westbound lane is supported by the facts.
Cory writes:
How do you know Jason wasn’t explaining why the vehicle registration didn’t have his name on it? How do you know he didn’t think he might have been targeted after Joe hit his car? How do you explain the times he didn’t identify himself as the attorney general? Did he want those tickets?
One witness did stop to offer Joe a ride, and he declined it. If Joe hadn’t taken a month’s worth of the psychotropic drug lorazepam in less than 36 hours, he probably wouldn’t have disabled his truck by smashing it into a bale beside the highway, or gone back out on that dark highway on foot to kill himself.
Have your armour ready for the Three Musketeers, Kurt.
Cows may come and cows may go, but the bullskit from Jenny and Kurt goes on forever. Sad!
The arthritis gettin to ya today, MFI?
Like a broken record, Mr. Evans repeats his lies ad nauseam.
I wouldn’t have thought him capable, but it is truly inspiring to watch Mr. Evans employ the chewbacca defense with such precision.
I have trouble trusting anyone who works so hard to make strained excuses for a powerful government official. Invoking one’s title immediately in interactions with law enforcement is a ploy to shield oneself from punishment with power. Recall the evidence from the original police report in the post: the first thing Ravnsborg showed Officer Dornacher was his badge, not his vehicle registration.
None of the multiple witnesses reported anyone trying to leap in front of their car on Highway 14 that night. No evidence supports Evans’s claim of suicidal intent.
All the witnesses who saw Joe walking that night testified that he was on the shoulder of the road, most said he was walking along the grass line at the very edge of the shoulder, one wasn’t sure how far over he was but in her statement said that he was definitely past the white line.
Mike, CH is so afraid of another explosion from Jenny that he will no longer post my comments.
Cory writes:
You work hard to make strained excuses for DPS secretary Craig Price and his flagrant abuses of power.
How do you know Jason wasn’t explaining why the vehicle registration didn’t have his name on it? How do you know he didn’t think he might have been targeted after Joe hit his car? How do you explain the times he didn’t identify himself as the attorney general? Did he want those tickets?
Is there video? Jason didn’t do that in any of the video I’ve seen of his traffic stops.
I’ve read several police reports about myself that were riddled with false statements, and it appears that neither of the officers’ narratives was filed until more than six weeks after the crash with Joe Boever.
Joe took a month’s worth of the psychotropic drug lorazepam in less than 36 hours, disabled his truck by smashing it into a bale beside the highway, left town on foot after dark, didn’t ask anyone for a ride, declined a ride offered by a passing motorist, and never told anyone why he was out there.
And Jason says his car was in the driving lane.
“No evidence.”
Craig Price alleges that some unknown “distraction” caused Jason to drive ten feet outside the white line at the very spot where the overdosed Joe Boever was supposedly “walking.” Is there one honest journalist in South Dakota who can ask Marty Jackley for his opinion of that preposterously far-fetched coincidence?
But the worst thing happening in South Dakota politics isn’t Craig Price using false accusations to destroy Jason’s reputation, or even Marty Jackley pulling us back toward an attorney general’s office that runs cover for Price and other corrupt law enforcement agents.
The worst thing happening in South Dakota politics is Governor Noem misrepresenting Jesus Christ and misleading His followers.
Good for Cory for not wanting your abusive comments, MJ.
Have a great Friday everyone.
Let’s get back to the point of the original post: in a seven-week period before he killed a man with his car, Jason Ravnsborg was stopped twice by police for nearly causing a car crash. Both incidents took place after sundown, like the crash that killed Joe Boever. Both incidents involved inattentive driving by Ravnsborg. Both incidents involved Ravnsborg almost colliding with police cars, which tend to catch the attentive eye more easily than regular cars. Both incidents involved state vehicles, which we expect state employees to handle more carefully than their own vehicles.
These two incidents in July and September 2020, before Jason Ravnsborg killed Joe Boever, before any Republican was calling for his resignation, before impeachment was even thinkable, demonstrate a pattern of inattentive, irresponsible, dangerous behavior behind the wheel by the Attorney General. The evidence from these two incidents and Ravnsborg’s other roadside interactions with law enforcement before and after his fatal run-in comes from multiple sources and is undisputed.
The evidence available thus provides a pattern of behavior that helps explain how Joe Boever died far more reliably than Kurt’s suicide hypothesis. We do not have multiple independent sources attesting to a long-standing pattern of suicidal behavior. We do not have multiple witnesses on the night of the accident or weeks or months before the accident seeing Joe Boever walking the center line and leaping in front of hurtling vehicles. (On the night of September 12, we have multiple witnesses seeing Boever walking relatively safely at the edge of the road.)
And I’ve never heard of anyone attempting suicide by running into a hay bale.
It is simplest and most logical to view Joe Boever’s death as a result of Ravnsborg’s well-established pattern of incautious driving (about which he had received far too many warnings and far too few tickets).
On the Greg Belfrage show a couple weeks ago, I was actually surprised with all the callers coming on and criticizing Ravnsborg. These were callers that had supported him before but a couple of them were saying that after all the driving incidents came up, they can’t support him anymore.
I read that Ravnsborg is an only child and he does certainly seem to portray the spoiled can do no wrong golden boy mentality. It would be interesting to see the dynamics between Ravnborg’s and his father. Is his father a big influence is he telling him to keep up the fight, etc? There has been sociopathic symptoms from the start from Ravnborg not showing up in court or any hearings and the lie that he spoke with Joe’s family.
Jackley wins in a landslide in Nov.
Jenny, you’re going to hurt your head listening to Belfrage.
But yes, that is interesting that even Ravnsborg supporters on that distinctly right-wing show would abandon him. They aren’t reaching for some strained conspiracy theory. They are recognizing the pretty plain fact that Ravnsborg is irresponsible and selfish.
At peril of opening up another line of family fracas, I have an only child in my household. She shows none of the signs of spoiled recklessness that Ravnsborg does.
I don’t normally listen to Belfrage, it was just the Ravnborg podcast one. I was totally surprised Belfrage and his listeners are not supporting Ravnsborg.
I know not all only children are spoiled, let me make that clear.
If this whole mess wasn’t a grotesque miscarriage of “justice” I’d say this topic has waaaay too much typing going on.
It’s plain Ravnsborg’s Moms should have kept his placenta and discarded her freak. The entire planet, not Just SD, would be a better place.
Cory writes:
Yes, let’s.
In the original post, Cory had written:
Was Jason really “almost killing cops”? Why would you say both of the law enforcement officers he “really” almost killed let him go with only a warning? And why would you say neither of those officers even bothered to file a primary narrative until more than seven weeks after the incident, when Craig Price’s campaign to have Jason imprisoned for manslaughter was well underway?
I’m familiar with the roads in the narratives, and I’ve been pulled over and falsely accused of driving outside my lane, and I wish I could cross-examine both of these officers.
First question for Tanner Dornacher: How does a Huron city police officer not know that Lincoln Avenue north of Center Street is Lincoln Ave NW, not Lincoln Ave SW? You had seven weeks after the incident to study for this.
Second question for Tanner Dornacher: If Jason was in the median of Highway 14 when he saw your lights, where was he supposed to pull over? Did you want him to cross both westbound lanes to the north shoulder of 14, or cross both westbound lanes and stay on Lincoln, or angle into the westbound traffic and stop in the median, or what?
When pulled over you pull all the way over to the right, it is a safety issue.
Nick Nemec writes:
Where, Nick? In the median? West of the intersection? North of the intersection? Jason obviously couldn’t turn right from there. Does your rule also apply to six- and eight-lane divided highways?
Mr. Evans, don’t be purposely obtuse. In the Huron incident Jason Ravnsborg was at the junction of Old Highway 14 and Lincoln, he failed to yield the right of way to traffic on Lincoln, as required by the stop sign on Old Highway 14. He pulled out in front of the cop, proceeded north on Lincoln, crossed the railroad tracks, turned left (west) on US-14 (a four lane divided highway with two lanes in each direction and a center grass median). The median is the “median” (middle) of the road a driver should obviously pull all the way to the right of the outside lane in the direction they are going when pulled over. In this case the north edge of the northern most of the two west bound lanes.
They teach this kind of stuff in high school driver’s education.
Nick Nemec writes:
*purposefully, not “purposely”
The incident occurred on Sunday evening during the adjacent 2020 state fair. There used to be traffic lights in full operation at that intersection during the fair. During the rest of the year they flashed red to east-west traffic and yellow to north-south traffic. During the fair this routinely caused multiple vehicles to stop on the five sets of railroad tracks north of the intersection. After the city decided to stop using full traffic control during the fair, it removed the lights completely.
Officer Dornacher confirms that Jason came to a complete stop at the stop sign, that “there was a vehicle that slowed to turn West [sic] onto Old Highway 14,” and that Jason said he believed the intersection was a four-way stop. Dornacher doesn’t say where the other vehicle was in relationship to his patrol vehicle, or whether that vehicle was traveling north or south.
If he didn’t grow up selling his dad’s music at the state fair, it would be entirely reasonable for an eastbound driver on Old Highway 14 after dark to believe traffic on Lincoln Avenue was also required to stop, especially if he saw a vehicle on Lincoln slowing down as it approached the intersection.
Jason was presumably northbound across the railroad tracks in the left lane of Lincoln when Dornacher says he informed dispatch that he’d be making the stop “at the intersection” of (new) Highway 14 and Lincoln. We don’t know exactly when Dornacher activated his lights or exactly where Jason was when he noticed them, but it was clearly before he’d turned onto Highway 14 and clearly too late to pull over before he reached the intersection.
Nick continues:
The direction Jason was “going when pulled over” was north on Lincoln, so “all the way to the right” would have been the east edge of Lincoln, either in the median of Highway 14 or north of the intersection.
In my driver’s ed classes they taught us not to turn left across the left lane, much less across both lanes, and still less across both lanes and a merge lane. To get to the north edge of the westbound lanes as you demand, both Jason and Officer Dornacher would have had to merge right and decelerate between vehicles merging left and accelerating onto westbound 14 from southbound Lincoln.
I’m not even saying that isn’t the rule, because I don’t know. I’m saying a driver who didn’t know the width of either the left or the right shoulder of westbound 14 could reasonably conclude that what Jason did was safer.
But in that case Jason might be a kind and honest man rather than a deceitful cold-blooded killer.
Jason Ravnsborg is neither “a kind and honest man” or a “deceitful cold-blooded killer.” He is however an extremely inattentive and dangerous driver. There are many examples of his inattentive and dangerous driving.
Nick Nemec had written:
Now he writes:
*nor
Mr. Nemec, don’t be purposefully obtuse:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/purposely-purposefully-usage
Over the course of many months, you’ve repeatedly suggested that Jason steered onto the shoulder, knew his car had struck a person, and lied to the 911 dispatcher rather than seeking medical attention for Joe. It’s difficult to imagine how a man who did those things wouldn’t be a deceitful cold-blooded killer.
Have you changed your mind?
Kurt Evans, you are losing potential votes for your Secretary of State race, by your endless discussion.
Joe Boever is dead. He was a very big PLUS for South Dakota.
Mr. Ravnsborgg is impeached. He will probably be acquitted in June.
Has Justice been served? Mr. Boever’s rights to exist safely and live free were truncated by Ravnsborgg’s carelessness. Probably his Federal civil rights as a Pedestrian were violated by Ravnsborgg,
Evans, stop talking about this–this hurtful to the Boever and Nemec families. You’ve already lost my vote in November, for your endless trolling.
Clean up your resume, too!
You are NOT a teacher now in Wessington Springs! If you are a substitute teacher, list Substitute Teacher, School District.
You are a FORMER Math teacher. There’s a difference.
List your jobs accurately.
Don’t lie.
Stop talking about the Ravnsborg accident. If you want to be Secretary of State and pull an upset win in November, please shut up up Ravnsoborgg/Joe Beaver! Post an accurate resume.
The best candidate wins. Try to be better, now.
“ABC” writes:
Joe was in the driving lane to commit suicide, probably because he’d taken nearly a month’s worth of the psychotropic drug lorazepam in less than 36 hours. Jason was transitioning between speed zones, hadn’t set the cruise control yet, and looked at the speedometer.
Governor Noem’s DPS secretary Craig Price alleges that some unknown “distraction” caused Jason to drive ten feet outside the white line at the very spot where the overdosed Joe Boever was supposedly “walking.” Is there one honest journalist in South Dakota who can ask Marty Jackley for his opinion of that preposterously far-fetched coincidence?
The worst thing happening in South Dakota politics, though, isn’t Craig Price using false accusations to destroy Jason’s reputation, or even Marty Jackley pulling us back toward an attorney general’s office that runs cover for Price and other corrupt law enforcement agents. The worst thing happening in South Dakota politics is Governor Noem misrepresenting Jesus Christ and misleading His followers.
I’m not trolling.
Sometimes.
Mr. Evans, the heinous Mr. Ravnsborg is a driving menace and killed a man with his negligence. I hope they tar and feather him before running him out of town on a rail. If not, I hope Mr. Jackley invites him to a boxing match at The Monument in lieu of the debates. Oh, wait, there can’t be the debates because the trial has to occur the day before the meeting where they anoint Mr. Jackley.
You and I, Mr. Evans, should invite the futue Mr. Ravnsborg to a dinner at the Steerfish joint we favor and pick at pieces of his brain about this entire event. grudznick will be the sanest one at the table so I will moderate the conversation.
Mr Evans I don’t think that Ravnsborg saw a man walking on the side of the road and decided to run him over, I do think that at some point that night before driving the sheriff’s car back to Pierre he knew exactly what he had hit. I also think that Ravnsborg’s driving record shows that he is a dangerous and inattentive driver who doesn’t hesitate to use his position to escape the consequences of his actions.
Yes, Joe Boever had too much prescription drug in his system, he did not commit suicide. None of the evidence collected indicates he did, and all of the evidence is consistant with a pedestrian walking on the very edge of the shoulder being hit by a car that was driving on the shoulder.
Your pig headed insistence that Joe ran into the westbound lane in front of Ravnsborg’s car tells a lot about your state of mind and ability to assess evidence to determine facts. You would be a dangerous man if ever elected to office.
For the record, I voted None of the Above in the polling for whatever office Evans was nominated to at the SoDak Libertarian convention.
I appreciate that Bob.
Evans says, “The worst thing happening in South Dakota politics is Governor Noem misrepresenting Jesus Christ and misleading His followers.”
Noem’s sins have nothing to do with misrepresenting the views of a Jewish carpenter who may have been murdered by the Romans 2000 years ago. The worst thing in SoDak politics is the fact that Kristi Noem occupies the office of governor. The second-worst thing is that about half of the legislature claims to be representing the word of Haysooce in their legislation.
“grudznick” writes:
Last year Lee Schoenbeck backed House Bill 1197 to deprive South Dakotans of the liberty to vote for an unlicensed attorney general. This year he’s arbitrarily stretching a complete suspension of the attorney general from 20 days to over 70. So apparently the voters can’t be allowed to elect an attorney general who delegates courtroom duties to his staff, but the unelected staff can be allowed to run the office entirely on its own for however long Lee Schoenbeck deems it politically convenient.
I’d written:
Nick Nemec writes:
That scenario would also be far-fetched, but not as preposterously far-fetched as Craig Price’s distraction-and-coincidence scenario.
Yes, and you think Jason told premeditated lies to his closest friends that night, and to his dad, and you think he’s continued lying to all of them ever since, and most of them are so stupid they’re still falling for it.
Over the course of many months, you’ve repeatedly suggested that Jason intentionally lied to the 911 dispatcher by claiming he didn’t know what he’d hit rather than seeking medical attention for Joe. Craig Price and Governor Noem seem to hold the same view. Have you changed your mind?
That’s excluding at least three traffic stops during which he didn’t even mention his position. Right, Nick?
All of the evidence I’ve seen is consistent with Joe diving onto the hood in the driving lane. His impact with the right side of the car would have angled it onto the shoulder, where his body would have been struck for a second time when it tumbled forward off the hood.
*pigheaded (one word)
I’d written:
Bob Newland writes:
At the beginning of His earthly ministry, Christ identified Himself as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah 61:1, announcing that God the Father had sent Him to proclaim liberty to captives. When Governor Noem professes Christianity but undermines liberty, her sins have something to do with misrepresenting Christ’s views.
Evans continues to demonstrate his unfitness for office.