ROCHESTER – Thirteen months before state trooper Shane Roper was involved in a crash that killed an Owatonna high school student, he had been reprimanded for another on-duty wreck less than a half-mile away.

And like the fatal crash in May, Roper was cited in the previous incident for using excessive speed without emergency signals while in pursuit of a driver suspected of a petty traffic violation.

But the parallels between the two events end there.

On May 18, Roper slammed his squad car into the side of a vehicle attempting to make a turn at a busy Rochester intersection, killing 18-year-old Olivia Flores and seriously injuring five others. He was charged Tuesday with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide in Flores' death and faces a total of nine charges related to the crash.

Before the wreck, Roper had been reprimanded by his supervisors four times in eight years for his role in crashes that happened while on duty. In each event, Roper was faulted for reckless or careless driving, according to public records obtained by the Star Tribune. In at least two of the incidents, he was found to have been traveling well above the speed limit without the use of his lights or siren.

Roper's discipline for the four crashes amounted to two days of unpaid suspension and two written warnings.

Pattern of reckless driving

On April 10, 2023, just over a year before the fatal crash, Roper was on patrol along a busy stretch of Hwy. 52 in Rochester when he spotted a driver suspected of speeding. Roper accelerated to more than 90 miles per hour before cutting across all lanes of the highway to follow the car onto an off-ramp. He lost control of the squad car, left the roadway and crashed into a cable median barrier.

Investigators later determined Roper failed to activate his emergency signals to notify other drivers, a violation of State Patrol policy. He was suspended for one day without pay for his actions.

"Troopers are expected to operate department vehicles with exemplary driving behavior," the incident complaint reads. "Trooper Roper's excessive speed inhibited the ability to safely exit the highway."

The 2023 incident had been the latest in a series of reckless driving decisions on Roper's part.

In February 2019, Roper was issued a written reprimand for reckless driving after his squad car collided with another state vehicle, causing significant damage to both vehicles and injuring the other driver.

Then in May 2021, Roper was cited for striking another driver with his vehicle after going through a stop sign without his emergency signals on. Roper claimed not to have seen the stop sign, despite the fact a "stop ahead" sign was posted 400 feet before the intersection. He was suspended for one day without pay.

Later that same year, Roper damaged his squad car by colliding with a deer, resulting in another written reprimand. The report says Roper was responding to an order for protection when he accelerated his vehicle to 77 mph while traveling on snow-packed roads. He was cited for not notifying dispatch of the call and failing to turn on his lights or sirens.

'Heartbreaking and unacceptable'

The State Patrol declined to answer questions about how Roper was allowed to continue in his job despite four prior reprimands for careless driving. Retired Lt. Col. Rochelle Schrofer, who wrote three of the four complaints against Roper, also declined the Star Tribune's request to discuss the charges.

An investigation into the May fatal crash found Roper was traveling 83 mph coming off Hwy. 52 onto a busy Rochester intersection near Apache Mall when he slammed into the passenger side of a car occupied by Flores, who died as a result of blunt-force injuries.

The investigation also revealed that earlier the same day, Roper — who had a 20-year-old passenger participating in a "ride-along" — had engaged in high-speed driving without emergency signals four times, at one point reaching 135 mph. Roper reportedly told the passenger his driving that day was "normal behavior for him."

Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem, whose office filed the charges Tuesday against Roper, said the trooper's negligent conduct violated the State Patrol's core values.

"As with any other person driving recklessly and without regard to very basic rules of the road, Mr. Roper's conduct cannot be tolerated," Ostrem said in a statement.

In response to a number of high-profile incidents involving police pursuits, including the 2021 death of an innocent driver in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) released updated guidelines on police pursuits in 2023.

The new policy states that when in pursuit, officers should consider the severity of the offense — and in cases of nonviolent offenses, they "should consider terminating the pursuit."

Erik Misselt, executive director of the POST Board, said while that leaves room for discretion on the part of officers, primary consideration should always be given to public safety.

"No policy, no rule can ever be written that covers every single situation," Misselt said. "But everything you do has to be done with due regard — due regard for the condition, due regard for other traffic and due regard for safety."

Attorneys for the Flores family said Tuesday they are weighing legal action against Roper. They also called on state leaders to launch an "open and independent investigation of the organizational failures" that led to the crash.

"It is heartbreaking and unacceptable to the Flores family that the state of Minnesota allowed Trooper Roper to be on the road in [a State Patrol] squad car after knowing that he posed a clear danger to others," the attorneys wrote.

Roper, who could not be reached for comment, graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Winona State University in 2014 with cum laude honors. Public records show he completed an emergency vehicle and police pursuit training course in 2015. The State Patrol says Roper completed an additional 13 driving training courses for a total of 107 hours during his time on the force.

Roper remains on paid investigative leave. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Aug. 29.