Videos reveal what supervisor told NC trooper to do after fatal Raleigh crash
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Investigation into NC troopers after fatal crash
Tyrone Mason, 31, died after his car slammed into a concrete barrier on Capital Boulevard near Wake Forest Road in Raleigh the early hours of Oct. 7. A Highway Patrol trooper, after talking with his supervisor, did not immediately disclose that he had pursued Mason before the crash. Mason’s mother says she was told no officer chased her son before he died. What she learned on her own launched a state investigation into the officers’ behavior.
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Highway Patrol video released late Friday afternoon confirms that a state trooper’s supervisor told him not to tell Raleigh police that he’d chased a car before a crash that killed its driver.
After reporting the crash to police without mentioning a chase, video shows Trooper Garrett Macario driving to the crash site and walking toward a car smashed under an overpass, examining it with a flashlight.
He then calls Sgt. Matthew Morrison to inform him that he pursued the car that “passed me downtown at like 70 in a 40” and “I went to stop him,” video shows.
He stopped chasing him due to his concern about safety, he says. “When I came around the corner, ...he’d already wrecked,” Macario says.
“Please tell me you’re (expletive) joking,” Morrison responds.
The sergeant tells Macario to keep the crash to himself. And he coaches him on what to say instead.
“I wouldn’t mention anything to them about you trying to stop him. Just say, ‘Hey man, I drove up on this’ and leave it at that,” Morrison says. Later he adds: “That’s RPD’s problem, I wouldn’t say (expletive) to them.”
A state judge ordered both the Highway Patrol and Raleigh Police Department to release dashboard- and body-camera video related to the crash, which killed Tyrone Mason in October 2024, so the public could see officers’ response that night on Capital Boulevard.
Concern over what Trooper Macario did or did not disclose at the scene launched a state investigation into him and his supervisor, Sgt. Morrison.
Earlier Friday, Raleigh police released videos that confirmed that Macario did as Morrison coached him. When asked if he was was pulling the driver over, the trooper said no.
“This is a little area I work, so, when I came up on it, I saw all the smoke and heard all the cars hitting the debris,” he said.
The highway patrol video shows Macario telling Raleigh police that the crash was a “fatal.” Asked if he checked on the driver, he said “not yet”.
Why police videos are now public
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman this week said she would not charge Morrison or Macario but criticized their “dishonesty.” Due to problems with their credibility, her office will not prosecute cases dependent on their testimony, her report states.
Freeman’s report said that Macario did tell one officer about the pursuit before leaving the crash scene, as well as a Raleigh police caption who called him.
Mason’s family filed a federal lawsuit after Freeman announced her decision. Among other things, it alleges that Macario ignored Mason’s need for medical attention.
Mason, 31, died after his 2018 Chevrolet Malibu slammed into a concrete barrier near Wake Forest Road on Oct. 7 just past 2:30 a.m. He had a blood alcohol level of .13, which is above the state’s 0.08 limit, according to a state medical examiner’s report.
Raleigh police told Henrietta Mason, Tyrone Mason’s mother, that no one had chased her son before he crashed, which she did not believe, she told The News & Observer.
It was her months-long quest for answers that lead to the State Bureau of Investigation probe.
Video from Macario’s dashboard camera shows the trooper was parked in a Speedway gas station parking lot near the Wade Avenue exit when Mason’s car streamed by. The trooper pursued the car away from downtown with siren and roof lights on for about 85 seconds, video shows.
About 9 seconds later, after Macario turned a bend, Mason’s crumpled car was visible. It had crossed both the median and oncoming-traffic lanes on Capital Boulevard before crashing. After seeing it, the trooper drove to the crash site.
In her report, Freeman expressed concern over Macario’s actions after he arrived there. “Notably Trooper Macario did not attempt to make contact or provide care to Mr. Mason,” Freeman’s report states.
At the request of several North Carolina news organizations, including The News & Observer, and Raleigh police, Superior Court Judge Thomas Currin on May 16 ordered the release of law-enforcement video of what happened before and after the crash.
The release “is necessary to advance a compelling public interest, namely, confidence in law enforcement,” he said during a hearing.
This is a breaking news story that may be updated.
This story was originally published May 23, 2025 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Videos reveal what supervisor told NC trooper to do after fatal Raleigh crash."
