#South Dakota AG involved in deadly crash after GOP event

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was involved in a fatal car crash over the weekend, Gov. Kristi Noem said.

The governor told reporters during a Sunday press conference that the accident in Hyde County occurred at about 10:30 PM Saturday on Highway 14, just west of Highmore, the Argus Leader reports.

“There was a fatality,” Noem said during the three-minute briefing. “Law enforcement is working on identifying the deceased and notifying the family.”

Additional details, including how many vehicles were involved and whether alcohol factored into the crash, were not immediately released, the newspaper reports.

Ravnsborg, a Republican who was elected in 2018, said in a statement following Noem’s press conference that he was “shocked and filled with sorrow” in the aftermath of the deadly wreck.

“As Governor Noem stated, I am fully cooperating with the investigation and I fully intend to continue to do so moving forward,” Ravnsborg said. “At this time I offer my deepest sympathy and condolences to the family.”

Noem and officials from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety also did not divulge any information about the victim or whether charges against Ravnsborg were pending, the Rapid City Journal reports.

Ravnsborg, who was not hurt, called 911 after the crash, his spokesman told the newspaper while declining to elaborate on details of the incident.

Ravnsborg was headed home to Pierre after attending the Spink County Lincoln Day Dinner in Redfield, spokesman Tim Bormann said.

The event, according to South Dakota GOP’s website, was held at Rooster’s Bar and Grill in Redfield, where those in attendance could buy tickets to win a handgun engraved with President Trump’s name.

Ravnsborg “drinks lightly,” Bormann said, but the attorney general’s spokesman said he didn’t think Ravnsborg was imbibing at the event, the Rapid City Journal reports.

Department of Public Safety Secretary Craig Price will lead an investigation into the crash, DPS spokesman Tony Mangan told the newspaper.

“We will handle this as we would any other fatal crash,” Price told reporters during Sunday’s press conference.

Reached for comment early Monday, Mangan told The Post additional details are expected to be released later in the day.