June 3, 2024 |
Photo – Saviol M. Saint Jean mug shot – Courtesy SWC Circuit Court
Charges have officially been filed against the semi-truck driver responsible for the death of a Memorial Hospital of Carbon County EMT in December of 2022.
On May 25th, the Sweetwater County Circuit Court filed charges against 45-year-old Saviol M. Saint Jean. A resident of Brooklyn, New York, Saint Jean is facing one count of aggravated homicide by vehicle and one count of aggravated assault. The charges stem from the December 21st, 2022, crash on Interstate 80 that killed MHCC Emergency Medical Technician Tyeler Harris and seriously injured his partner, Tiffany Greutzmacher. The two EMTs were treating victims from an earlier crash when Saint Jean, allegedly not paying attention and driving too fast for the conditions, hit the rear end of their ambulance.
According to court documents obtained by Bigfoot99, at approximately 4:30am on December 21st, 2022, Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper J.C. Scheel arrived at a multi-vehicle crash in the westbound lane of I-80, near mile marker 197, east of Rawlins.
Trooper Scheel reported that he saw three semi-trucks and a smashed ambulance when he arrived at the scene. The trooper said that the red Freightliner Cascadia, driven by Saint Jean, appeared to have struck the ambulance. EMT Harris was found laying under the trailer of one of the other semi-trucks. Harris’s partner, EMT Greutzmacher was beneath the cab of Saint Jean’s truck.
Harris died from the injuries he sustained in the crash. Greutzmacher was seriously injured, suffering a skull fracture and several broken vertebrae. She was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for treatment and released five days later.
In his report, Trooper Scheel said a witness at the scene stated that Saint Jean was traveling between 70 and 80 miles an hour when he collided with the ambulance.
Saint Jean refuted the witness’s claim, stating that he was driving 55 to 60 miles per hour and, thinking the ambulance was parked on the right shoulder, moved into the left-hand lane.
According to Saint Jean, by the time he realized the ambulance was actually on the left shoulder, it was too late to stop.
An investigation completed by the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, in February of this year, showed no evidence of Saint Jean attempting to avoid hitting the ambulance until his tires locked up 54 feet before the crash.
The results of the investigation lead Sweetwater County Prosecutors to file one count of aggravated homicide by vehicle for the death of Harris and one count of aggravated assault for Greutzmacher’s injuries against Saint Jean. If found guilty on both charges, Saint Jean could face up to 30 years in prison.
Following the deadly incident, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County set up a scholarship in Harris’s name. The Tyeler Harris Memorial Scholarship offers two $500 scholarships to help pay for emergency medical technician classes.
Harris was also honored with a memorial bench at the North Platte Valley Medical Center, in Saratoga.
Greutzmacher continues to recover from her injuries. After being released from the hospital, she was given a hero’s welcome back to Rawlins and was even honored during the 2023 Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Saint Jean is currently being held in the Sweetwater County Detention Center on a $150,000 bond. A preliminary hearing has been set for this Wednesday, June 5th, at 1:30pm in the Circuit Court of Sweetwater County.
