Dashcam video shows prior crashes of Minnesota trooper charged in Rochester fatal wreck
ROCHESTER – The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has released dashcam video showing four on-duty crashes Trooper Shane Roper was involved in prior to a wreck in May that left a young woman dead.
Roper was disciplined for his driving following all four crashes but continued patrol duty until May 18, when he drove his squad car through a Rochester intersection, killing Olivia Flores, 18, and seriously injuring five others.
Roper was charged earlier this month with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide in Flores' death and faces a total of nine charges related to the crash. He remains on paid investigative lead.
In all four crashes that preceded the fatal wreck, Roper was cited for inattentive driving and/or driving at excessive speeds. In all but one case Roper was found to not have activated his emergency signals, a violation of patrol policy. His discipline amounted to two written reprimands and two days of unpaid suspension.
February 16, 2019
Roper's squad car collides with another state vehicle, causing damage to both vehicles and seriously injuring the other officer. He is issued a written reprimand for reckless driving.
May 22, 2021
Roper strikes another driver after running through a stop sign while on routine patrol without his sirens or lights activated, resulting in damage to both vehicles. He is suspended for one day without pay.
December 29, 2021
Roper damages his squad card by colliding with a deer after reaching speeds of 77 mph on icy roads. He never activates his lights or signs, leading to a written reprimand.
April 10, 2023
Roper accelerates along Highway 52 in Rochester in pursuit of a speeding driver, reaching speeds in excess of 90 mph. After cutting across all lanes of traffic without his emergency signals activated, he loses control and crashes his squad car into a traffic barrier. The incident leads to another one-day suspension.
Lawyers for the Flores family have questioned why Roper was allowed to continue on his patrol given his disciplinary record. The family plans to file a wrongful death suit against Roper and are calling on the state to launch an "open and independent investigation of the organizational failures" that led up to the wreck.
The Minnesota State Patrol has declined requests to answer why Roper was not taken off the road.
Speaking at a recent event in Rochester, Gov. Tim Walz pledged a "full and thorough" internal investigation into the case.
"There is nothing we can say that is going to ease that pain, but we have to make sure that if there are things that can be done differently or weren't done correctly, we need to know that," said Walz.
A search warrant shows that Roper was traveling at 70 miles per hour through a busy intersection by the Apache Mall when he collided with the passenger side of the vehicle occupied by Flores. Witnesses described the trooper's squad car as coming in like "a rocket."
An investigation by the Rochester Police Department further revealed that Roper had engaged in high-speed driving four times earlier the same day — at one point reaching speeds of 135 mph — without his emergency signals on.
Roper is scheduled to make this first court appearance on Aug. 29.
Flores, an Owatonna High School cheerleader, had been set to graduate on June 7. Instead, the school left an empty seat for her at the ceremony in her honor.
