At Day 3 of Derrick John Thompson trial, the intertwined fates of a vicious car crash

The Cadillac Escalade was heavily surveilled as it sped down Interstate 35W and took an exit toward Lake Street at more than 110 mph.

There were Minnesota Department of Transportation traffic cameras, Metro Transit cameras and a dashboard camera from the State Patrol officer pursuing the SUV. There were also the ones connected to the Umatul Islamic Center and Sabri rental properties at the corner of 2nd Avenue S. and Lake Street.

Several of their videos were shown in court Monday during the trial of Derrick John Thompson for the deaths of five young Somali women.

They showed how viciously precise the intertwined fates were of the driver of that Escalade and Sabiriin Ali, Sahra Gesaade, Salma Abdikadir, Sagal Hersi and Siham Adam — the five women in a Honda Civic who were killed on impact when the SUV ran a red light.

Thompson, the son of former DFL state Rep. John Thompson, is on trial for 15 felony counts, including third-degree murder and multiple counts of criminal vehicular manslaughter. His defense is arguing he was not driving the Escalade.

The videos taken in the leadup to the crash show people going about their lives a little after 10 p.m. on June 16, 2023.

The video taken by Metro Transit has a time counter in the corner. The counter ticked 10:10.01; 10:10.02; 10:10.03.

Traffic lights cycled on Lake Street. Green. Yellow. Red. The road was open heading west but clogged heading east. Cars idled near the intersection. Others found clearings and accelerated forward. Pedestrians used the crosswalk. Turn signals blinked. Cars drove in and out of the McDonald’s drive-thru.

The Escalade was making its way.

The first surveillance video showed it in the left lane of the interstate heading north near 50th Street toward downtown Minneapolis. It passes other cars with ease. The next video showed it approaching the 46th Street Metro Transit hub where state troopers are known to sit and use a radar gun to catch speeding cars.

That’s where trooper Andres Guerra began his pursuit.

He testified last week that he maxed out his patrol car to try and catch up to the Escalade.

“Ours are governed to 130-135 mph,” Guerra said. “I assume I got pretty high up there.”

The next video was near the 35th Street exit. The Escalade was flying. So was Guerra’s patrol car. The Escalade moved toward the off-ramp for Lake Street. The speed limit on the interstate was 55. The speed limit on the off-ramp was 20.

Kristofer Geiger, a sergeant with the State Patrol’s traffic accident-reconstruction unit, testified Monday that he calculated the Escalade was going 116 mph as it took the exit.

Surveillance cameras showed cars were stacked up at a red light just past the exit. They were heading north on 2nd Avenue S. past 31st Street. The light turned green and six or seven cars turned left, a handful went straight.

A car came into the frame.

“That’d be the Cadillac,” Geiger said.

The counter ticked: 10:10.50; 10:10.51.

The SUV slightly slowed to between 95 and 98 mph. Geiger testified that data extracted after the crash showed the driver had the accelerator nearly pressed to the floor.

The Honda Civic was going between 27 and 34 mph as it traveled down Lake Street heading west. The Civic had the green light. Cars had been passing steadily through the intersection. One after another after another.

Geiger testified that when the Cadillac hit the intersection it tapped the brakes a second or two before impact.

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Joseph Paquette asked Geiger, “Is one second enough time to stop a vehicle travelling over 95 mph?”

“No, it is not,” Geiger said.

The counter showed the crash occurred at 10:10.57 p.m. The crash was so momentous, both the Escalade and the Civic were completely out of the intersection in seconds.

Geiger’s analysis of the crash was that road and weather conditions were good. Both cars were operating as they should. He blamed the crash entirely on Thompson, who the state has charged as the driver of the Escalade, because he was speeding, ran a red light and had marijuana in his system.

The bulk of Monday was spent with law enforcement detailing Thompson’s behavior after the crash and crime scene and forensic experts discussing their analysis of the crash.

Geiger’s testimony created the most vigorous back-and-forth questioning between Hennepin County prosecutors and Tyler Bliss, Thompson’s attorney.

During his crime scene investigation, Geiger testified the Escalade showed there was someone in the front driver’s seat and the front passenger seat, which is why passenger airbags were deployed. Geiger said that could be because a person was in the seat, but the Escalade also had details in the user’s manual that a bag on the seat or the floorboards could set off the airbag sensor.

A black bag was found on the floorboards after the crash.

Bliss asked if the main reason for airbag sensors was because cars are meant to protect children riding in the front seat.

Geiger said that’s true.

Bliss asked, “It can’t indicate who the passenger was?”

“No it cannot,” Geiger said.

“The driver’s seat had a similar system, did it indicate who was there?” Bliss asked.

“No it did not,” Geiger said.

Paquette responded, asking if Geiger believed the black bag was heavy enough that it could set off the air bag sensor that there was a passenger in the car.

“Yes, it could,” Geiger said.