HOLLAND, MI (WKZO-AM/FM, Mar. 17, 2022) – A 21-year-old Kalamazoo man was arraigned on Thursday on a number of charges stemming from an attempt to flee from the law on two separate occasions on Wednesday morning eventually led to a crash and the death of an unborn child in Holland.
Juan Alejandro Lira IV is accused of a grossly negligent act on a pregnant individual causing miscarriage or stillbirth, two counts of third-degree fleeing and eluding, receiving and concealing a stolen vehicle, operating a motor vehicle without a license, and possssion of a dangerous weapon. He remains held in the Ottawa County Jail on a total bond of $225,000, with no date immediately disclosed as to when a preliminary hearing in Holland District Court will be held.
According to Captain Bob Buursma of the Holland Department of Public Safety, a police officer had spotted a sedan illegally parked on East 15th Street east of Central Avenue around 3 AM. Walking up to the vehicle, the officer noticed that there was an occupant inside, and that the ignition lock cylinder was damaged. A check of the license plate showed that someone had swapped it out with another vehicle, and after asking the occupant to step out of the vehicle, the driver instead hit the gas, and a brief chase ensued before officers decided to end the pursuit.
Once it was determined that the originally parked vehicle was reported stolen out of Kalamazoo, the search was on for it. Around 8:15 AM, a police cruiser spotted the stolen vehicle westbound on 15th Street. The suspect then sped up when noticing the cruiser, ran one stop sign, and was in the process of running another when it struck a minivan on River Avenue.
As the driver was taken first to Holland Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, and then to the Ottawa County Jail, two passengers – a 17-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl, both from Holland – were also transported to Holland Hospital. The older woman, who was pregnant, had serious injuries, and her unborn child died as a result of the crash. The other driver, a 35-year-old Fennville man, was not hurt.
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