An Iowa trucker was using a sex chat website on his phone when he caused a multi-car pile-up on a Minnesota highway that killed an unborn baby.
The collision took place on the dangerous I-35 in Fairbault, Minnesota on August 23, 2023 when Joel Adam Sassman’s semi-truck collided into a Chevy Suburban.
Troopers responded around 12:20 p.m. for the crash. Officers say all six vehicles were headed north along the highway in a construction zone when there was a collision between a semi and a Chevy Suburban, which caused a chain-reaction.
Eight people in five different vehicles suffered injuries from the crash but 31-year-old Kaitlyn Herbert later lost what would’ve been her fourth child with her husband Shane while riding as a passenger in the Suburban.
Sassman, who himself was unharmed, was charged last week with criminal vehicular operation causing the death of an unborn child and eight further counts of criminal vehicular operation alleging gross negligence.
An Iowa trucker was using a sex chat website on his phone when he caused a multi-car pile-up on a Minnesota highway that killed an unborn baby
Eight people in five different vehicle suffered injuries from the crash but 31-year-old Kaitlyn Herbert later lost what would’ve been her fourth child with her husband Shane while riding as a passenger in the Suburban
He told police that ‘everything just stopped, and I ran into the back of that car’ but eventually police spotted a photo of a semi-nude woman on his phone.
Sassman claimed to be looking at the picture but not at the time of the crash but police soon found further evidence.
‘The defendant … did not have his full attention dedicated to the act of driving his vehicle,’ the complaint read.
‘There is evidence of [him] accessing websites and sending messages on his cellular phone shortly before the collision. If [he had] been alert to the slowed traffic, then he could have safely slowed his vehicle, and this collision does not occur.’
In addition, they found searches made by Sassman on Adult Friend Finder, an Instagram message and a Snapchat message sent just two minutes before the crash.
A driver in one of the cars involved had begun to slow down to head into the construction zone and saw the truck approaching at a high speed, while two others said they never saw his brake lights go on.
The Herberts have three children who were all under the age of four at the time of the crash, all suffering injuries but they mourned the loss of their unborn child on a GoFundMe.
‘Our baby boy, Maddox Paul Herbert, was delivered in the OR and rushed into another room where a team of doctors began to work on him in attempts to save his life. The trauma to Maddox was too great and they were unable to revive him.’
Sassman’s next appearance in court is scheduled for December 18.