Paramedic describes fatal bike accident scene

The first paramedic to arrive on the scene of a fatal tandem bicycle accident painted a graphic picture of the victims during testimony Thursday in the trial of Gilbert Sullaway Jr., 43, the driver of the truck involved in the accident.

“Her head was hyper-extended, rotated around her right shoulder,” Matthew Carrera testified. “Her body was kind of folded in half and she had no pulse.”

Carrera was talking about Alexandra Bruehler, 36, who was riding the cycle along with her husband, Gregory Bruehler.

Gregory Bruehler, 42, survived the accident but died a few hours later.

The couple (pictured below) was headed south on Highway 16 north of Helotes on the morning of Oct. 1, 2009, when they were struck from behind by a pickup truck driven by Sullaway, investigators said.

Sullaway told Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputy Martin Fuentes that he’d turned to look at a building on his right and veered into the improved shoulder of the highway.

Fuentes testified, “I asked him what happened and all he stated was that he had looked over to the side of the roadway and when he looked back up, they were in front of me.”

Sullaway was not arrested at the scene of the accident but was later indicted on charges of criminally negligent homicide.

If he is found guilty, he is faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.

Testimony will continue on Friday in Judge Angus Mc Ginty’s 144th District Court.

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