Trooper pleads not guilty in Flores crash
The Minnesota State Patrol Trooper accused of manslaughter and a host of other charges for his role in the crash that killed an Owatonna High School senior has pleaded not guilty.
Shane Elroy Roper, 32, of Hayfield, made his first appearance Aug. 29 in Olmsted County District Court, where he has been charged with one count each of second-degree manslaughter and 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.
He entered a not guilty plea on all counts, and was conditionally released without bail. Cameras were not allowed in the court room.
A settlement conference is set for Nov. 21, with a jury trial tentatively set for March 31.
Dozens of family members and friends of Olivia Flores, 18, attended the plea hearing
She was just weeks away from graduating with the OHS Class of 2024 when Roper’s squad car struck the car she was in on May 18 at a busy Rochester intersection.
According to the criminal complaint filed against him, shortly before the crash 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,” accelerating to 98 mph on the highway.
After exiting the highway, while still pursuing the car, he turned off his emergency lights, according to data retrieved from the “black box” of the squad.
The trooper then accelerated “with a fully engaged throttle,” allegedly reaching 83 mph in a quarter of a mile on the 40 mph road.
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.
Flores died of blunt force injuries the next day in a Rochester hospital.
Roper, who is on paid administrative leave from MSP, is represented by Eric John Nelson, of Halberg Criminal Defense in Edina. Nelson also represented Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd killing in May 2020.
Nelson joined the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association Legal Defense Fund in 2015, and has represented several members of the LDF in critical incidents and job-related investigations.