Driver who fled Robbinsdale police before fatal crash is ID'd, suspected of being on drugs

A motorist remains in the hospital Monday and under arrest on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs and causing a Robbinsdale crash that killed a minivan driver and severely injured her husband.

The driver who died Saturday night at North Memorial Health was identified by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office as Emily Gerding, 34, of Crystal, whose vehicle was hit broadside by the suspect's car at the intersection of N. Orchard and 36th avenues following a brief pursuit by police. The Robbinsdale officer called off the chase, but the driver continued at speeds of up to 90 mph before the fatal crash.

Gerding's husband, 34-year-old John Gerding, was taken by ambulance to North Memorial; he was in critical but stable condition Monday morning, said police Capt. John Elder.

The Gerdings worked as special-education teachers at Coon Rapids Middle School, according to a spokeswoman for the Anoka-Hennepin school district. John Gerding joined the staff in August 2019, and Emily Gerding came on board in October 2020, the spokeswoman said.

The surviving driver, identified in search warrants as 20-year-old Quintin Leon Hudson of Minneapolis, was taken from the crash scene to North Memorial for treatment of noncritical injuries, Elder said. Hudson is being held on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation, the captain said.

One warrant, which police filed Sunday seeking permission to test Hudson's blood for drug use, notes that officers have "concluded that at the time [Hudson] was driving [he] was under the influence of a controlled substance." Blood samples were collected by police, the filing noted, and test results are pending.

A second warrant filed Monday by police said that officers seized $4,000 in cash from Hudson and numerous items often associated with identity fraud: multiple bank checks, credit cards, cellphones and a fraudulent identification card with Hudson's photo.

The Gerdings' daughters, 6-year-old Emelia and 2-year-old Eleanor, "thankfully were not in the vehicle at the time of the collision," relatives wrote in an online fundraising page started on behalf of the family.

"They were about to celebrate their 7th wedding anniversary in August," the posting continued. "Emily would have celebrated her 35th birthday later this month. She was busy planning the party for Eleanor's upcoming 3rd birthday this month as well."

Exterior video surveillance provided to the Star Tribune from a resident about two blocks away from the crash scene showed the Tesla racing south on Orchard and blowing through a stop sign without slowing at 38th, where cross traffic has no stop sign.

About 10 seconds later, the video captured the police squad approaching the same intersection at a much slower speed and with its lights and siren off. The officer slowed down at the stop sign before continuing south toward where the crash occurred.

"You look at the tragedy that this truly is, and is this over a speeding ticket?" Elder said during his media briefing. "I mean it's just mind-boggling to all of us. ... So many lives have been changed forever because of one person's decision."

Elder said the car was not stolen. Its owner, Henry Horace of St. Paul, told the Star Tribune he was letting a friend use the car for a while. Horace said his friend told him that "she was sleeping. She had the key, and he just took it. ... I didn't even know she was allowing other people to drive the car."

Hudson was driving alone Saturday while holding a state-issued instruction permit and was "not legal to drive unless there is a licensed driver over the age of 18 in the passenger seat with him," said Mark Karstedt, state Department of Public Safety spokesman.

The crash occurred three weeks after a speeding driver killed five women after blowing through a red light at an estimated 90 mph and broadsiding their sedan on Lake Street in Minneapolis. Derrick Thompson stands charged with 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the June 16 crash.

According to Elder:

About 8:15 p.m., an officer on patrol spotted a Tesla traveling about 55 mph on eastbound N. 42nd Avenue as it passed over Hwy. 100.

The officer, heading west on 42nd and toward the Tesla, noticed as the two vehicles passed that the driver was wearing a ninja-style face mask.

The Tesla driver quickly turned onto a side street as the officer attempted to "catch up to make a traffic stop for the speed violation," Elder wrote in a statement. "The suspect vehicle made numerous quick turns, presumably to lose the officer."

The officer saw the Tesla turn into the alley between Orchard and Perry avenues and slow down because another car was traveling slowly in the alley. The officer next encountered the suspect vehicle on Orchard at 40th, where the squad's lights and siren were activated.

In response, the Tesla driver "accelerated rapidly," Elder's statement continued. "The officer estimated the suspect's vehicle speed to be between 70 and 90 miles per hour."

When the officer got to 39th and Orchard, he turned off the lights and siren and ended his pursuit of the Tesla.

A moment later, the officer saw the Tesla on Orchard, where it struck the minivan — which had the right of way — traveling on 36th.

Fire personnel arrived and used the Jaws of Life to remove the two minivan occupants before they were taken to North Memorial.