歪歪漫画

ST. PAUL -- Prosecutors received a 24-hour extension Wednesday to decide what charges to file against the son of a former St. Paul state representative in a crash that killed five young women in Minneapolis.

鈥淭he Hennepin County Attorney鈥檚 Office is waiting for additional evidence, including toxicology testing results of the suspect鈥檚 blood, as we continue to review the investigation into the criminally-reckless driving conduct that led to a crash on June 16 that killed five young women,鈥� spokesman Nick Kimball said in a Wednesday statement. They expect to file charges by noon Thursday.

The driver, identified as Derrick John Thompson, remains jailed. He was clocked by radar at 95 mph in a 55 mph zone before exiting the highway and colliding with another vehicle, according to a Minnesota State Patrol search warrant. The people in the other car, ages 17 to 20, all died at the scene Friday night.

Courtesy / Hennepin County Sheriff鈥檚 Office via St. Paul Pioneer Press

Law enforcement suspected Thompson 鈥渨as under the influence of an intoxicating substance,鈥� according to the application for the search warrant. The warrant was to draw Thompson鈥檚 blood for testing, which was done at the hospital. Results of testing weren鈥檛 publicly known Wednesday.

Thompson ran from the crash at Lake Street and Second Avenue and, when he was found in the area, officers observed the 27-year-old was talking normally, said the warrant application. 鈥淭hompson then quickly became extremely鈥� sleepy, 鈥渉ad droopy eyelids, and became uncommunicative after talking to him for a period of time,鈥� a trooper wrote in the application.

A bag with a green leafy substance, suspected to be marijuana, was seen by law enforcement on the Cadillac鈥檚 front passenger floor board, the application said.

Thompson is the son of John Thompson, who was elected in 2020 to represent St. Paul鈥檚 East Side at the Minnesota House of Representatives and served one term. The elder Thompson hasn鈥檛 responded to messages.

Derrick Thompson was convicted in a 2018 crash in California that seriously injured a woman. He was released from prison in January to parole supervision, and approved to move back to Minnesota in March, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The trooper鈥檚 search warrant application gave the following additional information about what happened Friday:

A trooper was conducting speed enforcement on Interstate 35W North near 46th Street in Minneapolis and at 10:09 p.m. Friday saw a Cadillac Escalade 鈥渢raveling at a visually high rate of speed鈥� on northbound I-35W. Police have said the crash happened before the trooper could attempt to pull the driver over.

The trooper saw from a distance the driver 鈥渁bruptly merge from the left most lane to the right most lane to take the exit ramp to Lake Street鈥� and 鈥渃ontinue down the exit ramp at an extremely high rate of speed.鈥�

The Cadillac entered Lake Street and Second Avenue on a red light and struck a Honda Civic traveling west on Lake Street. The trooper arrived moments later, but the Cadillac鈥檚 driver was already gone; witnesses said he鈥檇 run away.

Funerals were Monday for Salma Mohamed Abdikadir, 20, of St. Louis Park; Sabiriin Mohamoud Ali, 17, of Bloomington; Sahra Liban Gesaade, 20, of Brooklyn Center; Sagal Burhaan Hersi, 19, of Minneapolis; and Siham Adan Odhowa, 19, of Minneapolis. They were returning from preparing for a friend鈥檚 wedding at the time of the crash.

Officers found Thompson in the area with 鈥渋njuries consistent with being involved in a motor vehicle crash,鈥� the search warrant application said. 鈥淥fficers also observed that Thompson was sweating and appeared to be out of breath from fleeing the crash scene.鈥� Witnesses said he was the only person they saw running from the Cadillac.

Police took Thompson into custody and he was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center for medical evaluation. He was booked into the Hennepin County jail on Monday.

A rental agreement indicated Thompson rented the Cadillac at 9:46 p.m. Friday, just before the crash, from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Minnesota court records show Derrick Thompson was convicted last month in a 2018 Little Canada case of speeding and driving after revocation of license. He previously was convicted of fleeing police in a vehicle in 2017 in St. Paul, possession of cocaine in 2015 in St. Paul and carrying a gun without a permit in 2014.

In California in 2018, a 58-year-old woman who Thompson struck with a vehicle was in a coma for several weeks, according to a California television station. He was sentenced in the case to eight years in prison in 2020 for evading a peace officer and causing serious bodily injury; hit and run causing permanent serious injury; and possession of marijuana for sale. He received 577 days of credit for time served while awaiting trial, according to the California corrections department.

Thompson had a valid Minnesota driver鈥檚 license at the time of Friday鈥檚 crash, according to the state鈥檚 Driver and Vehicle Services.

Fundraising is underway at launchgood.com/FiveMNSisters for the families of the five young women who died.

鈥淲e have lost five of our bright young sisters,鈥� said the fundraiser organized by Dar Al Farooq Center. They 鈥渨ere shining stars of hope for our future.鈥�