Guatemalan immigrant Mario David Coronado Juárez, 35, died in a fiery Grand Rapids crash Sept. 20 after DHS said he sped away from an attempted ICE stop; agents were seeking the car’s registered owner, not him, and said they abandoned the stop for public safety.
DHS said the vehicle was registered to another person with multiple alcohol-related driving offenses who was also wanted in Guatemala on a drunk-and-disorderly charge. Agents said they tried to identify the driver. Officials estimated the car was traveling at more than 100 mph before it hit a tree and caught fire; Coronado Juárez was alone and was pronounced dead at the scene.
DHS said officers encountered the burning vehicle about half a mile from where they tried to stop it and attempted to extinguish the fire and render aid until emergency crews arrived. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered Michigan State Police to conduct an independent review in coordination with the Grand Rapids Police Department’s investigation. City police said they had no advance knowledge of or involvement in ICE’s operation; their chief sought state police help, citing investigators’ limited access to information from federal agents.
