Guatemalan man dies in crash during attempted ICE traffic stop
Add to GoogleGuatemalan man dies while fleeing ICE in Michigan03:08Get more newsonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleSept. 23, 2026, 2:56 PM EDTBy Nicole Acevedo and Joe KottkeAn 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 police “to conduct an independent review of the law enforcement actions surrounding this situation,” her spokesperson, Kaylie Hanson, told NBC News in a statement.
Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., sent a letter to acting ICE Director David Venturella on Tuesday requesting information about the agency’s actions in connection with Coronado’s death.
“No traffic stop should end with a fatality. Something went wrong, and we need to know what and how,” Scholten said in a statement, adding that she will be demanding “a transparent investigation into facts we don’t yet know.”
Scholten’s letter to Venturella demands a response by Sunday, as well as an immediate briefing on the situation.
“The purpose of federal law enforcement is to make our communities safer. We must make sure that is happening,” she added.
Ovando said the Guatemalan Consulate will assist Coronado’s family with the repatriation of his body whenever authorities conclude their investigation into the incident.
A community vigil in Coronado’s name is planned for Thursday night at the site of the crash, according to Movimiento Cosecha in Grand Rapids.
Coronado is survived by his wife, two daughters, a son and his parents, all of whom are in Guatemala.
Nicole AcevedoNicole Acevedo is a news reporter for NBC News.
Joe KottkeJoe Kottke is an assignment editor at NBC News covering breaking news across the Americas, including politics, immigration, crime and severe weather.
