Documents: Trooper driving nearly 100 mph before deadly crash

According to a crash accident reconstruction report obtained by Fox 9, a Minnesota State Trooper was traveling nearly 100 miles per hour when his squad struck a vehicle last year, killing an elderly couple. 

Norman Scott, 78, and his wife Geneva, 79, were killed as they were pulling out of a McDonald’s restaurant on July 4, 2014 on County Road 24, near 65th Avenue in Cannon Falls. State Trooper Scott Reps was racing to the scene of a motorcycle accident a few miles away when his squad t-boned the Ford Taurus, driven by Scott.

Last December, a grand jury indicted Reps on two counts of second-degree manslaughter, but not the more serious charge of criminal vehicular homicide. Since the crash, it has been unclear how fast was the trooper was driving before he struck and killed the couple.

The Department of Public Safety’s Crash Reconstruction Report concludes that Reps' squad was traveling between 95 and 98 miles per hour before it went into a skid, leaving 120 feet of skid marks. The report said it likely hit the Scotts' car at 75 to 79 miles per hour, and concluded speed was a factor, but it also blames 78-year-old Scott for failing to yield when he was pulling out of the McDonald's driveway. The report contends he had clear sight lines, and should have seen the squad coming.

Additionally, the report said that Scott may have been distracted while opening his McDonald’s order, the bag found between the steering wheel and the dashboard. 

Reps’ attorney, Fred Bruno, did not respond for comment.  Bruno is currently working to get the grand jury indictment thrown out, and believes the grand jury had bad information on the rule of law. Reps, who has been with the State Patrol for nearly 30 years, is currently on medical leave. His trial is slated to begin in December.