A 60-year-old bicyclist died Sunday morning in north Boulder after a driver turned in front of him, investigators said.
The accident happened about 11:45 a.m. at the intersection of 28th Street and Violet Avenue, said Sgt. John Hahn, a State Patrol spokesman.
The bicyclist, Casey E. Najera, had recently moved to Boulder from Longmont, authorities said.
Najera was riding his bicycle southeast on 28th Street when the driver of a 2001 Toyota Corolla traveling northwest turned left onto Violet, Hahn said. The car struck Najera, who was wearing a helmet.
He was taken to Boulder Community Hospital, where friends say he underwent surgery to stabilize his injuries. As he was being prepared for a helicopter flight to a Denver trauma center, he died.
The driver of the car, Karlin Bruegel, 25, of Lafayette, was cited with careless driving resulting in death, Hahn said. Bruegel “didn’t see the bicyclist. It’s very tragic.”
Najera is survived by two daughters, Leora and Lindsay.
“He could talk to anybody about anything,” Leora Najera-Anderson said.
Najera-Anderson said her father enjoyed all the arts, history and many outdoor activities. He owned Rocky Mountain Paint and Body Inc. in Longmont for 30 years. He was active in the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Boulder County.
Najera survived pancreatic cancer and had been cancer free for four years, Najera- Anderson said.
“He touched a lot of lives in many different ways,” she said.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
