GARDEN CITY, Rich County — A sporting goods store near Bear Lake is picking up the pieces after a semi truck driver crashed into the building and lost his life.
The UHP identifies the truck driver as Ahmed M. Abdelgader, 31, from Omaha. His passenger is still in critical condition.
Kerri Pugmire’s husband had just left Pugstone’s Sporting in Garden City.
“He was five minutes away of being — who knows what would have happened,” she said. “Being trapped, having a casualty in there.”
The semi carrying pallets of butter came speeding out of Logan Canyon on Wednesday, then rolled, and jackknifed into her building, which is ruined.
Carlin Nye says he saw the truck in the canyon before it crashed.
“I knew that the brakes were blown and they had a runaway truck,” Nye said. “So I got out of their way and I followed them to the accident. I knew there was going to be one.”
Nye says he helped pull the driver and passenger from the debris.