Man charged in Robbinsdale crash that killed woman, hospitalized her husband

The man suspected of causing a crash that killed a woman and seriously hurt her husband last weekend in Robbinsdale is now facing criminal charges.

Quintin Leon Hudson, 20, was charged Wednesday with causing a death while fleeing police, causing serious injury while fleeing police, criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation.

Those charges stem from a crash on Saturday at the intersection of Orchard Avenue and 36th Avenue North that killed Emily Gerding and seriously injured her husband, John Gerding.

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Charging documents state that an officer on patrol first saw the Tesla Hudson being driven on 42nd Avenue North. The radar on the officer’s squad gauged the Tesla’s speed at around 55 mph in a 30 mph zone.

The officer started to pursue the Tesla, which increased its speed and fled, the criminal complaint states. Eventually, the Tesla turned onto Orchard Avenue and rapidly accelerated, and the officer chose to stop the pursuit for public safety reasons after 17 seconds. However, the Tesla continued speeding and blowing through stop signs, ultimately slamming into the Gerdings’ minivan at 36th Avenue.

According to the complaint, the Gerdings had the right of way but the Tesla, which was going between 70 mph and 90 mph, blew threw a stop sign and hit their minivan.

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The Gerdings had to be extricated from the van before being rushed to a hospital. Emily Gerding, who was driving at the time, was pronounced dead at the hospital. John Gerding was in a coma for a few days, was intubated, suffered a traumatic brain injury and had brain bleeding, court documents state. He remained hospitalized as of Wednesday.

The family started a CaringBridge to document John’s recovery, and a GoFundMe for the Gerdings had raised more than $145,000 as of early Wednesday afternoon.

Hudson didn’t have a valid driver’s license, only an instructional permit, and was not allowed to drive the Tesla alone. He was arrested at the scene and also taken to a hospital before being released from care and booked into jail on Tuesday.

Court documents add that when police asked why he didn’t stop as the officer pursued him, Hudson responded, “didn’t want to.”

Police found various debit and credit cards that didn’t belong to Hudson or the Tesla’s owner in the car, the complaint states. An investigation also showed the Tesla was rented out by the owner through a service that facilitates car rentals, but Hudson wasn’t listed as a renter and the Tesla wasn’t reported stolen.

Hudson is scheduled to make his first court appearance Thursday afternoon. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison for causing a death while fleeing police. He also could face up to 10 years for criminal vehicular homicide, up to seven years for causing serious injury while fleeing police and up to five years for criminal vehicular operation.