Minnesota state trooper charged with vehicular homicide for May crash that killed 18-year-old

A Minnesota state trooper was charged this week with criminal vehicular homicide for his gross negligence in the May death of 18-year-old high school cheerleader Olivia Flores shortly before her graduation, and faces additional criminal charges for injuring five other people in the same accident.

Trooper Shane Roper allegedly reached speeds as high as 83 mph in an area with a 40 mph speed limit without his lights or siren on, which was one of four times he was speeding that day before T-boning the passenger side of a Ford Focus "at full throttle" in Rochester, Minnesota, according to Fox News.

A law firm representing Flores' family said in a statement that Roper has a "documented history of shocking, dangerous and unlawful driving conduct while on duty." 

They said he had been disciplined for four previous crashes "due to excessive speed, inattentive driving, or both."

The criminal complaint said Roper was pursuing someone over an "apparent petty traffic offense," though it didn’t provide details.

“As with any other person driving recklessly and without regard to very basic rules of the road, Mr. Roper’s conduct cannot be tolerated,” Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said in a news release, according to The Associated Press.