A Minnesota man suspected of causing a crash that killed five people last week in Minneapolis previously had been convicted and sentenced to prison after the vehicle he was driving struck and critically injured a pedestrian in Montecito during a 2018 police pursuit.

Derrick John Thompson, 27, of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, was arrested late Friday after he allegedly ran a red light and slammed into car occupied by five young women, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Killed were Sabiriin Ali, 17, of Bloomington; Sahra Gesaade, 20, of Brooklyn Center; Salma Abdikadir, 20, of St. Louis Park; Sagal Hersi, 19, of Minneapolis; and Siham Adam, 19, of Minneapolis.

Three of the women were cousins; one was an extended relative; and the fifth was a friend, the Star Tribune reported.

They women reportedly had just left a mall after having henna applied for a friend’s wedding.

Thompson fled on foot, but was apprehended soon after the crash just off Interstate 35, and taken to the hospital to be tested of drug and alcohol use, according to police.

The Star Tribune reported that he remained hospitalized under police guard as of midday Monday, awaiting charges that could be filed as soon as Tuesday.

On Sept. 4, 2018, Thompson was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Impala that was being pursued by Ventura Police Department officers, who observed the vehicle driving erratically on southbound Highway 101.

The vehicle careened around the corner of Butterfly Lane from Channel Drive in Montecito, and struck Jennifer Jan Jenson, 58, of Conover, North Carolina.

Jenson suffered major injuries, while two companions escaped injury.

Thompson fled the crash scene on foot, but two passengers in the Impala — Diamonte Markel Hickerson, 25, of Newport, Minnesota, and Justyn DeSean Sanders, 26, of Maplewood, Minnesota — were taken into custody after the crash on suspicion of conspiracy and possession of marijuana for sale, California Highway Patrol Officer Jon Gutierrez said at the time.

More than 17 pounds of marijuana and $20,000 in cash were found in the trunk of the vehicle, which crashed into a wall on the side of the roadway.

In February 2020, Thompson pleaded guilty to evading law enforcement causing injury; fleeing from the scene of a collision causing serious permanent injury; and conspiracy to possess marijuana for sale, as well as an enhancement for personally causing great bodily injury causing a comatose condition, according to Kevin Weichbrod, a senior deputy district attorney for Santa Barbara County.

Prosecutors asked the court to sentence Thompson to 10 years in state prison, and Superior Court Brian E. Hill gave him a term of 8 years, according to online court records.

Thompson received 577 days credit for time spend in custody at Santa Barbara County Jail prior to being sent to prison, Weichbrod said.

“Based on the fact that he was sentenced to a violent felony, he should have been required to serve 85% of his time, meaning he would have had close to 5.5 years left to serve,” Weichbrod told Noozhawk.

“That being said, California Proposition 57 (passed in 2016) changed potential credits calculations and gave CDCR wide latitude in rewarding additional credits during an inmate’s time in custody, as well as early parole opportunities for youthful offenders.”

Noozhawk could not immediately determine when Thompson was released from prison.

“That is horrible,” District Attorney John Savrnoch told Noozhawk this week. “My heart aches for the families of those young ladies, the Minneapolis community, and the Minneapolis Islamic community specifically.”