(RepublicanView.org) – A driver fleeing police in Michigan crashed and killed two people on January 6. Ryan Ambrosio and his wife Jen, who were parents to children aged between 2 and 9, died at the scene when Angel Melendez-Ortiz smashed into their car while driving at high speed and in the wrong direction.
Melendez-Ortiz was allegedly trying to escape the police in his 2006 Ford Super Duty truck, which he drove at more than 100 mph with officers in pursuit. Near the Civic Center Drive area, he hit Mr and Mrs Ambrosio’s car as they were driving home from a date night.
The fleeing driver and a passenger described as a 29-year-old woman from Detroit also sustained severe injuries in the crash, and both were taken to hospital. Melendez-Ortiz faces two charges of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree fleeing and eluding police causing death, two counts of reckless driving causing death, and two counts of operating a vehicle without a license and causing death. The female passenger has not been charged.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald stated that she had authorized the highest charges possible against Melendez-Ortiz. “We will pursue justice for these victims and their entire family, including their young children, and we will hold this defendant accountable,” she said, according to CBS News.
The incident began when Michigan State Police spotted a stolen truck taken from a gas station near Greenfield. Officers pursued the truck along several major roads and highways until it crashed head-on into Mr and Mrs Ambrosio.
Noriko Ernst, a member of the family’s church in Michigan, paid tribute to the couple and described them as “a wonderful model for the entire church family,” according to WDIV. A GoFundMe account raised almost $650,000 for the Ambrosio children, Amelia, Maria Grace, Faustina, Benedict, Raphael, and Julian. The fundraisers wrote that the couple “were so loved by so many of us.”
In court on January 10, Angel Melendez-Ortiz pleaded not guilty on all charges, and a bond of $1.5 million was set.
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