Star Tribune
Minnesota trooper Shane Roper charged in crash that killed Olivia Flores of Owatonna
ROCHESTER — Criminal charges were filed Tuesday against the state trooper involved in a three-vehicle crash in May that killed an eighteen-year-old high school student.
Trooper Shane Roper was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide related to the death of the victim, Olivia Flores of Owatonna. Several other charges of criminal vehicle operation were filed against Roper related to five others who were injured in the crash.
An investigation by the Olmsted County Attorney’s office revealed that Roper was traveling at 83 miles per hour with his lights and siren off when he approached a busy intersection near the Apache Mall. The trooper’s car slammed into the passenger side of a car, occupied by Flores, resulting in her death.
“Trooper Roper, violating his duty in such a gross fashion, caused the death of a young lady celebrating her impending graduation from high school,” Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said in a statement announcing the charges. “Several other persons suffered serious injuries. Roper’s 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.”
The county’s investigation revealed that Roper had engaged in high-speed driving without emergency lights — at one point reaching 135 miles per hour — at least four times earlier on the day of May 18.
“Roper’s discipline records revealed four prior crashes he has been involved in while driving his squad car either due to inattentive driving or excessive speed,” according to charges.
The State Patrol said Roper, who attended 13 driving training courses for a total of 107 hours over his eight-year career, has been placed on paid administrative leave.
“We express our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Olivia Flores and to the other community members affected by the tragic fatal crash that occurred on May 18 in Rochester,” State Patrol Col. Christina Bogojevic said in a statement. “The conduct alleged in the criminal complaint is concerning and does not align with the State Patrol’s core values.”
Flores was an Owatonna High School cheerleader who was set to graduate on June 7. A GoFundMe set up to support her family says “She was fierce and she was loyal. She was beautiful down to her soul.”
The trial included testimony from a Towson University marketing professor who conducted a survey about the advertisements.
The pictures are actually tightly controlled by contracts negotiated between the models and the magazines, said Chamberlin, a modelling agent who testified during the trial. A 30-year veteran of the industry who has represented Brooke Shields, Tyra Banks, Claudia Schiffer and others, Chamberlin during his testimony pulled back the curtain on the high-stakes negotiations that take place for supermodels, saying none of the images that the Cajun Club used were intended for strip club advertisements.
“We know exactly what they’ll be shooting, what product, and what type of work, and then we know how that’s going to be distributed and any other questions. It’s all negotiated before the model sets foot onto the set,” he testified.
Even if the women had consented to the use of the photographs in Cajun Club advertisements, Chamberlin said, it would have cost the club more than $1.2 million in fees.
The jury ruled in favor of the women and said they were owed amounts ranging from $1,500 to $15,000.
A freeway ramp in downtown Minneapolis used by thousands of drivers each day closed Monday morning and won’t reopen for five weeks.
Minnesota Department of Transportation crews shut down the ramp from northbound I-35W to eastbound I-94 at 5 a.m. Monday and it won’t reopen until Nov. 29
In addition, both directions of I-94 will be reduced to two lanes between 11th Avenue S. and Franklin Avenue.
The closures will allow crews to construct crossovers that motorists will use in 2025 when MnDOT begins maintenance work on five bridges along I-94 between downtown Minneapolis and the Franklin Avenue bridge that crosses I-94.
Drivers needing to get from northbound I-35W to eastbound I-94 will be directed to go north on I-35W to Hwy. 36 and south on I-35E.
Next year, both directions of I-94 will be reduced to two lanes between Hwy. 55/Hiawatha Avenue and the Franklin Avenue bridge.
The preference, he said, was to arrest Sawchak outside, but “in this case, this suspect is a recluse and does not come out of the house.”
City Council members criticized MPD for their handling of the case, expressing outrage at the department’s inability to protect a resident “from a clear, persistent and amply reported threat posed by his neighbor.”
The Moturis have reported to police at least 19 incidents of vandalism, property destruction, theft, harassment, hate speech and other verbal threats, including threats of assault, involving Sawchak since last fall — shorty after the couple moved in. Sawchak is white and Moturi is Black.
Over the weekend, as frustration continued to boil over about the lack of a resolution in the case, several more council members released statements demanding that MPD move in to make an arrest.
“Our Chief of Police is hiding behind excuses, and our Mayor…is just hiding,” Council Member Emily Koski wrote on X.
Less than two hours later, from the scene of an unrelated fatal shooting at a homeless encampment, O’Hara acknowledged that his police force failed to protect Moturi and issued an apology.
