Rep. John Thompson Disputes Police Account Of Traffic Stop Involving Daughter, Says She Had ‘Mental Health Episode’, 4/26/22
State Rep. John Thompson on Tuesday said he did not attempt to misuse his position as an elected official or intimidate police officers when he showed up to a traffic stop involving his adult daughter, disputing a police report of what happened.
His reaction was that of a concerned father responding to a child in crisis, he said.
. . . said he “certainly would not attempt to misuse, intimidate or bully police officers with [his] official position.”
“I responded as any concerned father would, arriving at a chaotic scene to help deal with my frightened daughter, who was having a verifiable mental health episode, which was triggered by the large presence of the SPPD,” Thompson said.
Officers at the scene let Thompson take his daughter home, declining to take her into custody and then referring the case to the city attorney, according to the police report.
Thompson praised the police officers for how they handled the situation.
. . . Thompson’s legislative assistant did not respond when asked if Thompson would authorize release the body camera video.
More:
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2022/04/26/rep-john-thompson-disputes-police-account-of-traffic-stop-involving-daughter-says-she-had-mental-health-episode/
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From MPR 4/25/22:
. . . The officer called for backup and police placed a “pursuit terminator” under the van to prevent it from leaving. As that happened, police said another vehicle approached at high speed and Thompson got out and started yelling at police, saying the van’s driver was his daughter and accusing them of mistreating her.
Thompson also told officers he was a state representative and police released a photo of a business card they said he showed police at the scene.
“Thompson continued to yell and scream in an irate fashion — and mention his elected position several times — as the van’s driver continued to ignore officers and made a video call,” police said in a statement that accompanied a report about the incident.
. . . Police said they eventually gave up trying to administer a field sobriety test and allowed the van driver to leave the scene with Thompson with the intention to seek charges against her later.
A police spokesperson also said that Thompson himself could face charges in the matter.
More:
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/04/25/police-st-paul-lawmaker-intervened-in-traffic-stop-of-daughter
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