MN State Trooper Fired After Crash That Killed Teen

ROCHESTER, MN — A Minnesota trooper accused in a fatal crash has been fired from the State Patrol.

Shane Roper faces a second-degree manslaughter charge in connection with a May crash that killed 18-year-old Olivia Flores and injured five others in Rochester.

A spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol told FOX 9 that Roper's employment ended on Sept. 3.

At about 5:45 p.m. on May 18, emergency responders were dispatched to a crash at the entrance to Rocheter's Apache Mall.

A Minnesota State Patrol car, driven by Roper, had t-boned a Ford Focus, investigators said. Either one or both vehicles were then pushed into a Toyota Rav4, according to authorities.

The occupants of the Focus and Rav4 needed to be extracted before they were all hospitalized.

Flores, weeks away from graduating high school, died hours after the crash. Five other occupants suffered broken bones and other serious injuries.

Roper had minor injuries, authorities said.

The Rochester Police Department investigated the crash. Before the crash, Roper had been stationary on an exit ramp to Highway 52 doing traffic enforcement.

Roper activated his emergency lights and exited the ramp "at a very high rate of speed," reaching 98 mph in an attempt to catch up to a traffic violator, according to investigators.

Roper exited the highway, turned off his emergency lights and sirens, and accelerated to "full throttle" reaching 83 mph near the mall entrance, authorities said. The speed limit on the road was 40 mph, prosecutors said.

A Focus began a left turn into the mall when Roper’s squad slammed into the passenger side of the Focus, according to authorities. Roper did not come off the full throttle until the Focus started into the intersection, approximately 1.4 seconds before impact, investigators said.

Roper’s patrol vehicle "violently impacted" the Focus, prosecutors state.

At least four times earlier in the day on May 18, Roper engaged in high-speed driving without emergency lights, in one instance reaching a speed of 135 mph, other times over 99 mph, authorities said.

Minnesota State Patrol policy states that personnel have a "duty to protect all peoples’ lives to the extent possible when enforcing the law."

Roper violated that policy by driving in a grossly negligent manner attempting to catch up to a petty traffic violator on a consistently busy roadway, authorities said.