Trooper charged with five felonies in fatal crash

The Minnesota State trooper who slammed into a passenger car while speeding through a busy Rochester intersection, killing an Owatonna High School senior, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Shane Elroy Roper, 32, of Hayfield, will make his first appearance Aug. 29 in Olmsted County District Court, where he’s also been charged with criminal vehicular homicide, and three counts of criminal vehicular operation, all felonies. Other charges include two gross misdemeanor counts of criminal vehicular operation and one count of reckless driving, as well as one count of careless driving, a misdemeanor.
The charges stem from a crash on May 18 that took the life of Olivia Flores, 18, who was just weeks away from graduating.
According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Roper was parked on an entrance ramp to U.S. Highway 52, monitoring traffic, when he began to pursue a vehicle for an “apparent petty traffic offense” at speeds that reached 98 mph on the highway.
He exited onto eastbound 12th Street Southwest — then reached 83 mph just 1.4 seconds before striking the vehicle in which Flores was a passenger, the complaint says.
While Roper had his emergency lights on as he drove on U.S. 52, he turned them off when he exited onto 12th Street, according to data retrieved from the “black box” of the squad.
Once eastbound on 12th Street, the trooper accelerated, allegedly reaching 83 mph in a quarter of a mile on the 40 mph road.
As he approached the intersection that led into Apache Mall,a large SUV that was also eastbound entered the left-turn lane, obstructing the view of the westbound lanes, the report says.
At the same time, the vehicle carrying Flores and two other people was in the westbound left-turn lane, preparing to turn into the mall.
As the car turned, Roper was “unable to sufficiently brake or maneuver his squad car” to avoid the crash, the complaint says; the squad was travelling at least 55 mph when it slammed into the passenger side of the vehicle Flores was in.
The impact sent both vehicles east through the intersection, colliding with a small SUV carrying two people.
Witnesses to the crash, including the other drivers, described the speed of Roper’s squad as “a rocket,” “flying,” “in a blink of an eye” and “hauling ass.”
No witnesses saw or heard emergency lights or a siren.