SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – A Romulus man pleaded no contest to multiple charges, including murder, after crashing into a couple head-on on the Lodge Freeway, killing them.
Angel Melendez-Ortiz, 35, drove away from police in a reported stolen pickup truck in the wrong direction on the Lodge Freeway at around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2024, crashing into Jen and Ryan Ambrosio.
Previous coverage: Wrong-way driver gets murder charges in crash that killed Metro Detroit parents of 6
Jen Ambrosio, 43, and Ryan Ambrosio, 45, from Farmington Hills, were on their way home from a date night when they collided with the pickup truck. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Melendez-Ortiz and his passenger, identified only as a 29-year-old woman from Detroit, were both injured in the crash and initially hospitalized in serious condition.
Here’s what happened leading up to the crash, according to police:
- Troopers on patrol spotted a stolen Ford pickup truck at a gas station on 8 Mile Road at 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 6.
- The driver of the truck, identified now as Melendez-Ortiz, backed up, nearly struck the patrol car, and left the gas station.
- Melendez-Ortiz allegedly fled from police as troopers attempted to pull him over. He reportedly traveled at fast speeds, exceeding 100 mph at points. Police pursued the driver onto the northbound Lodge Freeway.
- Melendez-Ortiz got off the freeway at northbound Telegraph Road, turned off his headlights, did a U-turn over a median to head southbound on Telegraph Road, and reentered the northbound lanes of the Lodge. He was then traveling in the wrong direction on the freeway with his headlights off.
- That’s when the wrong-way driver struck a GMC Terrain near Civic Center Drive in Southfield. The Ambrosios were killed in the crash.
Melendez-Ortiz was charged with the following:
- Two counts of second-degree murder.
- Two counts of first-degree fleeing and eluding police, causing death.
- Two counts of reckless driving causing death.
- Two counts of operating a vehicle with a license that’s suspended/revoked/denied causing death.
- Two counts of OWI causing death
On May 13, 2025, the Romulus man pleaded no contest to all ten of his charges.
