Two North Carolina state troopers won’t face criminal charges even after local prosecutors discovered they lied and mishandled a case involving a Black man who died in a single-vehicle car crash last year.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman has decided not to pursue prosecution against Trooper Garrett Macario and Sergeant Matthew Morrison with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP).
Macario and Morrison were both involved in the police response to an October 2024 crash that killed 31-year-old Tyrone Mason.
Mason died after his 2018 Chevrolet Malibu slammed into a concrete barrier at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 7, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.
Macario was the officer who called in the crash to local law enforcement. However, he never disclosed to responding officers that he had chased Mason just before the 31-year-old driver crashed into the barrier.
He initially only told his supervisor, Sgt. Morrison.
Bodycam footage shows that right after Macario called for backup and first responders, he called Morrison, informed him about the crash, and told him he chased Mason after seeing him speeding on the highway.
However, according to a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) report cited by WTVD, he gave up the pursuit shortly before Mason lost control of the car and crashed into the barrier.
Morrison then advised Macario to deny any involvement and instead say that he had “rolled up on” the wreck.
That stream of misinformation trickled down to Raleigh police and finally to Mason’s mother, Henrietta Mason. When Raleigh police informed Mason about the deadly crash, they initially told her that a trooper didn’t try to pull her son over.
It wasn’t until December 2024 when a Raleigh officer called her and told her the truth that she sent inquiries to the SBI, which resulted in an investigation into the troopers’ conduct.
After also looking into the matter and reviewing the bodycam footage, District Attorney Freeman determined the troopers had lied to local police, violated NCSHP standards, and dropped charges in 180 pending DWI cases in which either Macario or Morrison was the arresting officer.
“While their dishonesty violates the standards to which law enforcement officers must adhere, the District Attorney is not pursuing criminal charges as the evidence would not support a successful prosecution,” Freeman stated in a report.
Freeman said she also discovered that while Macario initially lied to some Raleigh officers, he later told the Raleigh police captain that he tried to conduct a traffic stop before the crash.
Macario’s initial “false statements” are “inexcusable,” but his “subsequent truthful statements within the relevant time frame prevent the State from being able to move forward with a successful prosecution,” Freeman wrote.
Mason Family Attorneys Respond to Decision Not to Charge
After Freeman released her decision, attorneys for the Mason family filed a federal lawsuit against Macario, claiming the trooper violated Tyrone’s constitutional rights and “conspired” with Morrison to cover up his role in the crash.
Today’s decision by the District Attorney flies in the face of accountability, justice and common sense. It’s an insult to Tyrone Mason’s family and the people of North Carolina.
Not only was the pursuit itself ill advised, which Trooper Macario admits on camera, he failed to render any kind of aid to save Mr. Mason’s life, leaving him to die and then lying to Raleigh police to try and cover it up. Now the District Attorney wants us to believe that, after intentionally lying to those officers and obstructing an investigation, Macario somehow told the truth as if that makes it any better. Of course, there are no recordings of this supposed confession whereas the lie is plain for everyone to see on video. Furthermore, if Macario was so forthright, why did he fail to file a simple incident report until months later in December?
Henrietta Mason is heartbroken once again. Not only has she had to bury her son, she has been failed repeatedly by the North Carolina State Troopers, the Raleigh Police and now Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman who all seem more interested in protecting a couple of liars than delivering justice for Tyrone Mason.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol also released a statement, calling the crash “heartbreaking,” and notifying the public that both Macario and Morrison remain on administrative leave.
“We do recognize and take ownership that words spoken and captured by video in the moments after the collision’s occurrence do not reflect the high standards we place upon our members nor the lifesaving work that we see them carry out daily. We do believe, however, that this collision was a result of Mr. Mason’s actions alone and that is reflected in the unbiased collision report completed by the Raleigh Police Department,” NCSHP officials stated.
Raleigh Police also released a statement in response to the news that both troopers would not be charged: “We are reviewing our crash investigation procedures, specifically, how we interact with families of victims. We are committed to updating our procedures and instituting more levels of review to ensure more timely and effective communication both inside and outside the organization. Transparency is important for trust with our community, and it is essential when families have lost a loved one. This is why RPD joined the petition to release all available body-worn camera and vehicle camera footage available from both the RPD and NCSHP.”
Freeman has taken her concerns about the troopers’ conduct to the State Highway Patrol and the North Carolina Criminal Justice Training and Standards Division, which has the authority to revoke their certifications.
A judge also ordered Raleigh police and Highway Patrol officials to release all relevant videos related to the chase and the crash.
