ROCHESTER — Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem announced Tuesday that criminal charges were filed against Shane Roper, a Minnesota state trooper involved in a fatal crash that resulted in five people being injured and the death of 18-year-old Olivia Flores.

According to an Olmsted County Attorney press release, Roper is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide in addition to other charges of criminal vehicular operation.

In total, Roper faces five felony charges and four that are either gross misdemeanor or misdemeanor charges.

The release said Rochester Police Department found that Roper activated emergency lights and exited the Sixth Street Southwest ramp onto Highway 52 at 98 miles per hour in an attempt to catch a traffic violator before exiting onto 12th Street Southwest. He then turned off his emergency lights and sirens and accelerated to full throttle, reaching 83 miles per hour, approaching the north Apache Mall entrance.

The speed limit on 12th Street Southwest is 40 miles per hour.

The release said the Minnesota State Patrol has specific guidelines and policy related to high-speed driving.

“Over the course of his 8-year career, Trooper Roper has attended approximately 13 driving training courses for a total of 107 hours. Investigation revealed that at least four times earlier in the day on May 18, Trooper Roper engaged in high-speed driving without emergency lights, in one instance reaching a speed of 135 mph, other times over 99 mph. Each of these instances Roper either did not initiate emergency lights or turned them off while maintaining extreme speeds,” the release said.

Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said in the release Roper’s “conduct cannot be tolerated.”

“Trooper Roper, violating his duty in such a gross fashion, caused the death of a young lady celebrating her impending graduation from high school. Several other persons suffered serious injury. Roper’s conduct violated the State Patrol’s Core Values,” Ostrem said in the release.

This is breaking news and will be updated when more information is available.

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