Brooklyn Park Felon Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison for Possession of Fentanyl and Firearm Following Deadly Vehicle Crash

ST. PAUL, Minn. - On Wednesday, March 18, 2026, Derrick John Thompson, 30, was sentenced to 204 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for possession of fentanyl and a firearm following a deadly vehicle crash that claimed the lives of five young women, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.

According to evidence presented at trial, on June 16, 2023, a trooper with the Minnesota State Patrol observed a black Cadillac Escalade speeding north on I-35W, traveling at 95 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour speed zone. The trooper observed the driver, later identified as Thompson, abruptly cut across four lanes of traffic to exit the freeway at the Lake Street exit. The trooper began following the SUV but did not activate the emergency lights or sirens because the trooper did not want to attempt a traffic stop on city streets given the Escalade's dangerous driving. At the intersection of 2nd Avenue South and East Lake Street, Thompson sped through a red light at the intersection without stopping or slowing. The SUV struck at full speed the driver's side of a Honda Civic that was traveling lawfully through the intersection. All five occupants of the Honda Civic, four young adult females and one juvenile female, ages 17 to 20, were killed. When law enforcement responded to the scene of the crash, witnesses told officers where Thompson fled. Officers found Thompson, wearing clothing that matched the description given by witnesses, sitting on the curb outside of a nearby restaurant. Officers detained Thompson, who was later transported to Hennepin County Medical Center for evaluation.

According to evidence presented at trial, an officer found at the scene a Hertz rental record for the Cadillac Escalade indicating that Thompson rented the vehicle from a Hertz located at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport approximately 30 minutes before the crash. After obtaining a warrant to search the vehicle, officers found a black leather bag on the front passenger side floor that contained a loaded Glock pistol with an extended magazine, as well as three baggies containing more than 2,000 blue "M-Box 30" fentanyl pills, a baggie containing an additional 14 grams of fentanyl powder, a baggie containing 35 grams of cocaine, and a digital scale. Subsequent testing determined that Thompson's DNA was present on the firearm, the fentanyl powder, and the cocaine. A search of Thompson's phone found dozens of texts indicating fentanyl deals, as well as recorded voice messages from a few days before the deadly crash in which Thompson requested to purchase 30,000 fentanyl pills.

The deadly crash occurred just five months after Thompson was released from prison in California for a similar incident that occurred in 2018. In that incident, Thompson fled from police in a vehicle containing eight kilograms of marijuana and struck a pedestrian causing severe injuries that required the pedestrian to be put in a medically induced coma for twenty days.

Thompson was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan on one count of possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Judge Bryan ordered that 60 months of Thompson's sentence will run consecutively to the 704-month sentence that Thompson received for 3rd Degree Murder and Criminal Vehicular Homicide in July 2025 in Hennepin County District Court, Case No. 27-CR-23-12910, arising out of the same deadly crash.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Minneapolis Police Department, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Police Department, in coordination with the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney LeeAnn K. Bell. Former Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Calhoun-Lopez and Ruth S. Shnider tried the case.