SUICIDE EFFORT DIVERTS TRAFFIC MAN HOSPITALIZED AFTER TRAFFIC JUMP.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

SAUGUS -- A Saugus man who told deputies he was trying to kill himself suffered critical injuries Thursday when he threw himself onto the hood of a passing car on Bouquet Canyon Road.

Arms outstretched, the man hurled himself onto a Saturn sedan traveling about 45 mph, smashed against its windshield, then rolled off the opposite side of the hood and hit the pavement, his shoes knocked off by the impact.

``I was just driving and saw him standing on the curb and the next thing I knew, he jumped on the car,'' said College of the Canyons instructor Debbie Zednik, who had been driving to work.

The man's arms were outstretched ``like Superman'' when he jumped, she said.

The 34-year-old man was transported to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition with severe head injuries and a broken femur.

``Witnesses told us that he'd been standing on the side of the road for about five minutes,'' said Deputy Roy Henstrand. ``He made eye contact with a woman at the bus stop, then jumped in front of the car.''

Henstrand said the man told a deputy as he was being treated by paramedics that he was trying to kill himself.

Southbound traffic on Bouquet Canyon Road was diverted for approximately one hour after the incident, which happened just before noon near Dot Street.

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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