4/11/2025 |
Photo courtesy of the Sweetwater County Detention Center
More than two years after an emergency medical technician from Saratoga working for Memorial Hospital of Carbon County was killed while responding to an early-morning crash on Interstate 80, a Brooklyn man will face criminal charges in Sweetwater County later this year.
Saviol Saint Jean, of Brooklyn, New York, age 45, is scheduled to stand trial in Sweetwater District Court on September 4th for the death of EMT Tyeler Harris. His medical partner, Tiffany Gruetzmacher, was seriously injured . Both were working for Memorial Hospital.
At approximately 4:00 a.m., on December 21st, 2022, Harris and Gruetzmacher were responding to a crash on Interstate 80, east of Rawlins. While they worked to assist victims from the original crash, Saint Jean, driving a red Freightliner Cascadia, struck their ambulance, dragging Gruetzmacher under the cab of his truck and pinning Harris beneath the trailer’s landing gear.
Gruetzmacher sustained severe injuries, including a broken back, a skull fracture, and brain hemorrhaging.
She was transported to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and released five days later, on December 26th, to a hero’s welcome in her hometown of Rawlins.
Tyeler Harris, age 29, was pronounced dead at the scene. His death resulted in a flag half-staff remembrance statewide by order of Governor Mark Gordon.
Haris and Gruetzmacher were tending to people involved in a previous highway crash involving a semi-tractor with trailer and a pickup truck pulling a small, enclosed trailer.
After an investigation into the incident concluded, Saint Jean was arrested about one year ago, on May 5th, 2024. The truck driver is charged with aggravated homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault and battery, and operation of a vehicle upon approach of authorized emergency vehicles.
If convicted of all charges, Saint Jean will face 30 years in prison.
In a written statement to Bigfoot99, Sweetwater County Clerk of District Court Donna Lee Bobak announced that Saint Jean is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Friday, August 7th.
If prosecutors fail to reach an agreement with the defendant, his jury trial is set to commence on Thursday, September 4th, in the Sweetwater County District Court.
