An attempted traffic stop by federal immigration officers ended in a deadly crash Sunday after the driver fled and smashed his car into a tree in Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to police.The driver, a Guatemalan national, was pronounced dead at the scene.Rosario Ovando, consul general of Guatemala in Chicago, which serves Michigan, identified the man killed in the crash as Mario David Coronado Juárez.Ovando told NBC News on Wednesday that Coronado, 36, was originally from the Guatemalan city of San Marcos.Coronado had been employed in the U.S.as a construction worker to provide for his wife and three young children, who are back in Guatemala, according to Karla Barberi and Gema Lowe, both members of the advocacy group Movimiento Cosecha in Grand Rapids.“Mario was a hard-working man for the working class.
He lived a humble life.I’m showing you here who Mario is,” Lowe said, holding a picture of Coronado while speaking at a press conference Tuesday.
“In his car, he only has tools to work here and just to be working for his family.” “If ICE was chasing him and caused his death, we want justice,” Barberi said.The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have not responded to requests for comment.At approximately 7:10 a.m.
Sunday, Grand Rapids police responded to reports of a car that had crashed into a tree and caught fire.Coronado “was pronounced deceased at the scene,” police said in a statement Sunday.In a follow-up statement Tuesday, Grand Rapids police said, “Prior to the crash Sunday morning, Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel attempted to stop the involved vehicle and the driver fled.” Police Chief Joseph A.
Trigg requested assistance from Michigan State Police in the investigation.Col.
James Grady II, the state police’s director, confirmed to NBC News that the agency is “investigating what led to Sunday’s deadly crash” in collaboration with Grand Rapids police.Michigan Gov.Gretchen Whitmer also directed the state...