Minnesota House Public Safety Committee Member Issues Statement on Hit and Run Crash

(KNSI) — The Republican Lead on the Minnesota House Public Safety Committee issued a statement about the horrific hit-and-run crash that claimed the lives of five young women in Minneapolis on Sunday.

Twenty-seven-year-old Derrick Thompson, son of former Democratic state Representative John Thompson, is accused of speeding on 35W and running a red light after exiting the freeway and crashing a rented Cadillac Escalade SUV broadside into the Honda Civic the women were in. The younger Thompson has a string of driving offenses in Minnesota and was also released early from prison in California after running from police, hitting a pedestrian, incapacitating her and fleeing the scene in 2018. He also did have a valid Minnesota driver’s license at the time of the crash Sunday.

Representative Paul Novotny of Elk River says he is keeping the women and their families in his thoughts and prayers and adds, “This case is another example of the Democrats’ soft on crime policies not working. What you ignore you condone, what you reward you encourage. We need to hold criminals accountable so that no other lives are cut short as a result of senseless acts of violence.”

Thompson was arrested and booked into the Hennepin County Jail on Monday, where he is being held for charges.

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