Minnesota State Trooper Charged in Killing of Teen Cheerleader

A state trooper has been hit with multiple charges following the death of a teen cheerleader and the injury of several more victims.

Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Shane Roper is facing a count of second-degree manslaughter, one charge each of reckless and careless driving, and five separate counts of criminal vehicular operation. The criminal charges were brought by the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old high school senior and lifelong cheerleader, Olivia Flores, was killed when Roper’s squad car t-boned her vehicle on May 18.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Olmsted County, the fatal incident began as Roper opened a pursuit against someone for an “apparent petty traffic offense” in the county. With his car’s emergency lights active, he quickly hit speeds as high as 98 miles per hour while a “ride-along” passenger was in his vehicle.

Roper encountered traffic that slowed him but he continued the pursuit.

Once Roper made his way around the traffic, the criminal complaint states he deactivated his emergency lights and “accelerated with a fully engaged throttle,” putting the squad car back up to 83 miles per hour in just a quarter mile.

The trooper continued driving eastbound toward an intersection near a mall area known for its very active traffic.

Due to a crest in the roadway, cars traveling eastbound are typically unable to see for oncoming traffic very well.

A Ford Focus with three occupants, including Flores in the rear passenger seat, coming from the westbound direction then turned south across the apparently empty intersection. According to the criminal complaint, Roper was accelerating at “full throttle” up until 1.4 seconds before smashing into the side of the Ford.

His speed at the moment of impact was estimated to be at least 55 miles per hour.

The cars’ momentum carried them to impact a third vehicle, a Toyota Rav4 with two occupants.

The driver and front passenger of the Ford both suffered injuries to internal organs and a number of other major and minor complications. Flores sustained major blunt force trauma.

KTTC reported in May that Flores was put in the hospital the night of the wreck but taken off life support the very next day.

The Toyota’s occupants were left in pain from the collision, but no major injuries are detailed in the criminal complaint.

Roper’s ride-along suffered a bruised rib and multiple fractures.

Not a single witness recalls seeing lights or sirens active on the trooper’s vehicle, but witnesses gave similar accounts of its startling speed.

Roper claims he was not actively in a pursuit, but was trying to “close the gap” on the car he suspected of a minor traffic infraction. The trooper, who patrols in and is familiar with the area around the intersection, also claims he believed his car’s lights were on and he tried to clear the intersection before entering it.

The charges Roper faces, many of which are felonies, carry a total maximum sentence of just over 50 years.