John Jefferson
The Herbert family (GoFundMe).
An Iowa trucker was using his phone to send messages on a sex app just moments before causing a fatal highway crash that killed a woman’s unborn child, authorities in the Land of 10,000 Lakes say.
Joel Adam Sassmann, 52, stands accused of one count of criminal vehicular operation causing the death of an unborn child and eight counts of criminal vehicular operation alleging gross negligence.
Kaitlyn Herbert, 31, was one of the nine people impacted by the six-car pileup last summer, according to charging documents filed in Rice County. She lost her child during the 31st week of her pregnancy — despite efforts to rescue the baby by way of a cesarean section.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of Aug. 20, 2023, on a stretch of Interstate 35 just outside of Faribault, Minnesota — a medium-sized city roughly 50 miles due south of Minneapolis. At the time, Sassmann was behind the wheel of a 2007 Peterbilt tractor-trailer, according to an incident report by the Minnesota State Patrol.
Herbert was a passenger in a 2016 Chevrolet Suburban, the report says. That vehicle was directly struck by Sassmann in the crash, according to the criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime.
“The defendant…did not have his full attention dedicated to the act of driving his vehicle,” the complaint reads. “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.”
The impact happened in a 70 mph zone just before a lane reduction due to construction, according to law enforcement. There were various warning signs alerting drivers to the upcoming change — for almost 10 miles beforehand. Still, Sassmann allegedly said the abrupt shift caught him and his 13-plus-ton truck off-guard.
“Everything just stopped, and I ran into the back of that car,” the trucker allegedly told a state trooper at the scene.
Authorities say that account just isn’t true.
After the crash, investigators located Sassmann’s cellular phone, according to the complaint. On the screen was a picture of a woman in a state of undress. The trucker would allegedly admit he had looked at the semi-nude picture — but not when the crash occurred.
Investigators then looked into the sexual angle further — ultimately determining the trucker sent a total of eight sex-related instant messages in the minutes before the crash and used multiple accounts on multiple apps, the charging document alleges.
In addition to those messages, Sassmann allegedly searched the Adult Friend Finder Network on “multiple” occasions, visited a live sex chat cam site, received a Snapchat message labeled “B––––––,” messaged a woman on Instagram, and “changed the orientation of his phone to landscape five (5) times,” according to the complaint.
Witnesses would tell investigators they never saw the semitrailer’s telltale brake lights flash before the impact.
Two Ford vehicles, one Honda, and one Volvo were also involved in the crash, according to state police. Herbert and one other adult suffered life-threatening injuries. Three other adults suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Sassmann and three other adult victims came away unscathed, according to the incident report.
In sum, eight people suffered some form of injury — including Herbert’s three surviving children, ages 1, 3, and 4, according to the complaint.
In a GoFundMe for medical expenses, Herbert’s husband, Ryan Herbert, detailed the injuries each member of his family sustained — and their recovery efforts — at length.
From the online fundraiser:
Shortly after arriving at the emergency room in Mayo the doctors noticed the baby’s heart rate was starting to drop. They performed an emergency C-section in attempt to save the baby. 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….
Katie spent 5 weeks at Mayo while recovering from the incident and her TBI. She was in the ICU for 4 of the 5 weeks and was in a comatose/unresponsive state for most of the 4 weeks. She is now considered medically stable and earlier this week was discharged from Mayo and moved to an in-patient rehab facility closer to home. She is starting to regain some movement as well as starting to find her voice a bit. Katie has no issue telling me what to do.
Minnesota state police determined Sassmann was traveling nearly 70 mph when he hit the SUV with the pregnant Herbert inside.
The defendant was charged via summons last week. He is slated to appear in court for an initial appearance on Dec. 18.
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