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Rochester News
Estelle Timar-Wilcox and MPR News Staff

Family of 18-year-old killed in Rochester crash sues former state trooper

Crashed vehicles
The scene of a multi-car collision at the intersection of Memorial Parkway Southwest and 12th Street Southwest, just north of Apache Mall, in Rochester on May 18. The crash resulted in the death of 18-year-old Olivia Flores.
Maya Giron | Post Bulletin file

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A former Minnesota state trooper involved in a fatal crash in May is being sued by the family of the 18-year-old who died.

The lawsuit stems from a crash in Rochester in which then-trooper Shane Roper was allegedly driving more than 40 mph over the speed limit without turning on his emergency lights or sirens, or enabling a device which changes traffic lights for emergency vehicles. He crashed into two other cars, injuring five people and killing Olivia Flores.

Flores’ parents filed the wrongful death lawsuit in federal court on Wednesday. It calls her death “untimely and preventable.”

The lawsuit alleges that Roper was “excessively and recklessly speeding through a busy intersection … at over twice the posted speed limit in an area Roper knew to have heavy traffic. Defendant Roper saw and appreciated that there were other vehicles and occupants in the area and he consciously disregarded the risk he created by his shocking driving conduct.”

Woman smiles
Olivia Flores, 18, was killed in a crash involving a State Patrol squad car in May in Rochester.
Courtesy photo

Roper has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in the crash, including second-degree manslaughter, criminal vehicular homicide and seven other counts.

Court documents state he had previously been involved in four crashes in his squad car. He received suspensions for two of them. He is no longer employed by the Patrol.

Roper is due back in court on the criminal charges in February. A message left with his attorney, seeking comment on the federal lawsuit, was not immediately returned.

In the lawsuit, Flores’ parents seek “compensatory damages, general damages, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs”

Flores was a back-seat passenger in a car driven by a close friend at the time of the crash. She suffered serious injuries and died the next day.

She was due to graduate from Owatonna High School in June. Flores was captain of the high school cheerleading team.