KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The driver who fatally struck prominent Grand Rapids banker and civic leader John Canepa will spend 21 days in jail.
Kent County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Becker confirms that was the sentence given Wednesday to Amy Lona Brock in Grand Rapids District Court. The Kentwood resident’s vehicle struck the 87-year-old Canepa on January 22, on Leonard Street between Seward and Quarry avenues.
Canepa was a former president and CEO of Old Kent Bank, a member of the Downtown Development Authority, as well as the Grand Valley Foundation, and co-founded the nonprofit Grand Action Committee before announcing his retirement in late 2017.
He was known for not only his civic work but also philanthropy, as the city’s traffic-safety manager Chris Zull noted in a February news release issued by the city shortly after Canepa’s death:
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family of a civic leader who was a titan of the Greater Grand Rapids banking and philanthropic communities…”.
The car/pedestrian fatality prompted renewed discussion about “the need” for a new Grand Rapids pedestrian crossing ordinance.
Though discussion about implementing a new Grand Rapids pedestrian crossing ordinance began last year, Zull said the tragic January 25 death of Canepa reinforced the need for the change.
Said Zull in the news release, “We pray that the City’s new ordinance will help to avoid such unfortunate tragedies in the future. No one should die or be seriously injured while traveling our city streets.”