RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The two North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers who were investigated for their actions in a deadly Raleigh crash last December have been dismissed, officials said Monday.
NCSHP Trooper Garrett Macario and Sgt. Matthew Morrison had been under investigation since January following a crash on Capital Boulevard in October that took the life of 31-year-old Tyrone Mason. A search warrant issued by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation on March 18 shows Macario was accused of giving false information to a Raleigh police officer at the scene of the incident.
According to the search warrant, body camera footage from the crash shows Macario attempted to stop Mason after observing Mason traveling 70 m.p.h. in a 40 m.p.h. zone. Macario turned off his lights and slowed down before Mason lost control of his vehicle and crashed.
The body camera footage captured Macario speaking with Morrison, his superior. It revealed Morrison told Macario to not inform the responding Raleigh officers about pursuing Mason and instead say he was driving up to the crash.
In the body camera footage, a responding Raleigh police officer asked Macario whether he attempted a traffic stop on Mason’s vehicle. The trooper said he did not and instead came up to the crash scene when he saw smoke and debris rising from the car, according to the warrant.
A report from Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman verified this sequence of events.
On Monday, the NCSHP said Macario and Morrison, who were on administrative leave since January, had been dismissed from their roles on June 16.
The dismissal of the two troopers comes a month after Freeman announced they would not face criminal charges, although she described their actions as “inexcusable”. Her office also dismissed about 180 cases involving Macario and Morrison, mostly DWI incidents, citing concerns about their credibility.
Following Freeman’s decision not to criminally charge the two troopers, Mason’s family said they were taking legal action against Macario.
