A Minnesota man faces 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide for a crash in Minneapolis that killed five people last Friday.
Derrick John Thompson, 27, faces two charges for each victim, one for operating a vehicle in a grossly negligent manner and one for causing a collision and leaving the scene of the crime.
A Minnesota State Police trooper testified in an affidavit he followed the SUV Thompson was allegedly driving, and witnessed the vehicle speeding and moving erratically on Interstate 35W when the driver suddenly crossed all the lanes and exited onto Lake Street.
Thompson did not heed a red light at the end of the off-ramp and “collided violently” with a Honda Civic, the trooper’s testimony alleges, crushing the car and pinning it against the wall of a bridge.
All five people inside the Civic were killed. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner released the names of five female passengers in a fatal collision at that address on that date: Salma Mohamed Abdikadir, 20; Sahra Liban Gesaade, 20; Sagal Burhaan Hersi, 19; Siham Adan Odhowa, 19 and Sabiriin Mohamoud Ali, 17.
“The deaths of these five young women is devastating for their loved ones and has shaken our community,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement.
Thompson appeared in court Friday afternoon, but was not asked to enter a plea or make a statement on the case, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Public defender Marecca Smith Vertin did not respond to a request for information from CNN Friday. Hennepin County Jail records Friday listed Thompson in custody at the Hennepin County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 21.
Investigators say Thompson fled the scene and was discovered nearby sitting in the parking lot of a Taco Bell, bleeding. Police said the SUV was a rental vehicle, and they tied the crash to Thompson using a rental receipt found near the SUV, surveillance footage from the Hertz rental location, and testimony from a witness.
The rental receipt indicated that the car was rented roughly 24 minutes before the crash, the complaint states.
The criminal complaint states police found a loaded handgun in the SUV, along with fentanyl, MDMA, and cocaine. Toxicology results for Thompson are still pending.
The complaint also notes Thompson’s conviction for a felony hit-and-run in California in 2020. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the 2018 crash, which left a woman in a coma with permanent injuries, the Ventura County Star reported at the time. Local Minneapolis outlet the Star Tribune reported Thompson was released from prison early in January 2023.
Just a few months before he was arrested in connection with last Friday’s crash, his charging documents state, Thompson’s Minnesota license was reinstated after a 5-year revocation for fleeing a police vehicle.
“Mr. Thompson has repeatedly engaged in extraordinarily dangerous criminal driving conduct related to apparent large-scale drug dealing,” Moriarty said. “He has caused immeasurable pain and suffering in multiple states and we will seek a significant sentence that appropriately reflects the devastation he has caused and ensures a lengthy period of incapacitation.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office said Thursday that Thompson also faces three federal counts relating to drug trafficking and illegal gun possession in connection with the Minneapolis crash.