Third suspect involved in violent Montecito hit-and-run arrested
Authorities confirm they have arrested the third suspect involved in a violent hit-and-run in Montecito that left a 58-year-old North Carolina woman fighting for her life.
Derrick John Thompson, 23, was located and arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota on Sept. 21, 2018.
A thorough and tireless investigation by the Santa Barbara Area California Highway Patrol and the CHP Coastal Division Investigative Services Unit led them to identify Thompson as their suspect.
The St. Paul Gang Task Force in Minnesota captured Thompson following an arrest warrant issued by Santa Barbara CHP. Thompson was extradited from Minnesota to Santa Barbara by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Thompson was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on Oct. 10, 2018, and faces several criminal charges related to the September 2018 hit-and-run.
The California Highway Patrol says that on Sept. 4, 2018, Ventura police had been in pursuit of a Chevrolet Impala for reckless driving on U.S. Highway 101 when the chase exited the freeway towards Channel Drive in Montecito.
The driver of the Impala turned right onto Butterfly Lane and hit a pedestrian, identified as 58-year-old Jennifer Jensen. Jensen was walking with her two friends on the edge of the roadway at the time of the crash, according to CHP.
Jensen was taken to the hospital with a broken arm and internal injuries. 
At the time, authorities detained two men who were passengers in the Impala — 25-year-old Diamonte Markel Hickerson of Newport, Minnesota, and 26-year-old Justyn Desean Sanders of Maplewood Minnesota. However, the driver of the vehicle ran away as police closed in.
As a manhunt for the third suspect got underway, a man fitting the suspect’s description was detained in Carpinteria but police later determined that individual not to be the suspect they were looking for in connection to the hit-and-run in Montecito.
