The crash five days ago in South Minneapolis
took five young women from our community.
Five families had to say goodbye
to their daughters, their siste.
These early days have been filled with grief,
and they are also filled with questions.
Questions about how the man who
hit the women in the crash that
killed them was even able to be
driving a car in the 1st place.
Derek Thompson is that man.
He's in jail.
And the Hennepin County Attorney's office
says charges will probably come tomorrow.
And so tonight we want to focus
on the questions that Lou
Ragoose got answers to today,
Jana. In 2020, Derek Thompson ws
convicted in California of a che
that revokes his driving privileges there.
And theoretically here.
Despite that, earlier this mont,
just nine days before the fatal crash,
Minnesota issued Thompson
a new driver's license.
Besides the question of what che
he could face for his alleged
role in the Friday night crash n
Minneapolis that killed 5 young women,
several other questions have arn
regarding Derek John Thompson,
including how he has a valid Minnesota
driver's license after a 2020 conviction
in California for a hitandrun
that permanently disabled a wom.
In every case, you are hoping fr
rehabilitation. In every case,
you are hoping somebody changes. John
Sabernac is the Santa Barbara
County District Attorney.
He says they didn't offer
Thompson a plea bargain.
So Thompson pleaded guilty to te
most serious charge. Would his
California case affect his abily
to get a driver's license in any way?
A conviction for that offense
results in a mandatory revocatin
of your driving privilege.
In the state of California,
Department of Public Safety officials
confirmed Thompson applied for a
new driver's license in March,
but national databases showed his privileges
were invalid in another state, D PS:.
Says on June 7th, 9 days before
the deadly crash on Lake Street,
Minnesota issued Thompson a new driver's
license when the same database showed
his privileges were valid in all states.
DPS does not explain how that happened.
It almost sounds like he had a d
license in Minnesota because of a loophole.
I can't necessarily comment on that all.
All I can say is California,
again by operation of law,
revoked as privileged to operate
a motor vehicle. Besides,
the issue of his license is the question
of how Thompson was already free
after being sentenced to 8 yearn
prison in California in February 2020.
The California Department of Corrections
confirms he was released in Jany
2023 after serving just three y.
They note that he received 577 days of
credit for time spent in the county jail.
First Sabernac shares another wy
Thompson sentence was shortened
and we have been informed he alo
attended Fire Camp which is a program
run by the California Department
of Corrections where inmates.
Are allowed to receive training in the
fighting of wildfires and actually will
be will be dispatched to wildfires and
it is very common for the Depart
of Corrections and Rehabilitatin
to bring crews to the wildfires.
Sabernach doesn't know if Thompson actually
did fight any California wildfi,
but confirms it is one of severl
factors that led to his freedom.
The District Attorney sympathizs
with the victim's families.
An incident this horrible,
it just it devastates the
community. Now, the driver's
license issue is very relevant because
Thompson was driving a rental car Friday
night and according to a search warrant,
he is the one who rented the cad
you need a valid driver's
license in order to do that.
The question remains,
what happened between March and
June that caused the database to
show he has no flags preventing
him from getting a license, Jan.
And I know they didn't get intot
in the statement they gave you,,
but is that going to be something that
our Department of Public Safety could
answer or is that a national database
that someone else has to answer?
I have the question posed to the
California Department of Motor Vehicles,
who theoretically should be
able to answer the question.
I haven't heard back from them .
All right. Well, we'll keep asking then,
Lou. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.