Salt Lake man dies in Lindon auto-pedestrian accident

LINDON — A 50-year-old Salt Lake City man was killed Tuesday morning when he ran in front of a Jeep that police don't think he ever saw.

Police said Dimitre Gudjenov probably wasn't familiar with the Lindon area, so he pulled his semi truck over on Geneva Road at the 200 South intersection just after 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Lindon Police Sgt. Doug Eastman.

From there, he ran across a lane of traffic to ask some questions of a tow-truck driver who had stopped at the red light.

Despite the language barrier, Gudjenov got some instructions and thanked the man, Eastman said.

By that time, the light had turned green and several cars had begun to pull forward in the other lanes.

"The angle of the victim, the way he was running, he wouldn't have been able to see this car coming," Eastman said.

Police don't believe Gudjenov looked around after he crossed in front of the tow truck, thus never seeing the Jeep Cherokee in the other lane that hit him.

The Cherokee was traveling about 30 mph on a 50 mph road, and Gudjenov was thrown about 50 feet down the road.

A Lindon police officer was patrolling in the area and got to the scene before 911 calls even came in, Eastman said.

Eastman said officers got the man breathing at the scene, but he died after being taken to Timpanogos Regional Hospital.

The 29-year-old man who hit Gudjenov was not cited and was not injured, Eastman said.

Orem's accident reconstruction team went out this morning to take several pictures of the scene, which Lindon officers marked Tuesday morning.

Gudjenov worked for Knight Transportation out of Salt Lake City, Eastman said.

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