Media, Raleigh Police want NC state trooper videos. What the judge said.
READ MORE
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.
Expand All
A North Carolina judge agreed to release state and local law enforcement videos expected to show whether a state trooper told the truth about his role in a fatal Raleigh crash.
“I do find that the release of these videos is necessary to advance a compelling public interest, namely, confidence in law enforcement,” said Superior Court Judge Thomas Currin Friday.
The videos should be released as soon as possible, but no later than in four days, Currin said. Raleigh police will need at least two days to blur sensitive scenes involving the man killed in the crash, police department attorney Sherita Walton said.
The Raleigh Police Department, The News & Observer and other newsrooms argued Friday that the footage from Highway Patrol and Raleigh police body-worn and dashboard cameras should be released to bring more transparency to the case, according to court documents.
While search warrants outline the interactions, the ability for the public to view the videos is still needed, said attorney Mike Tadych, who represented The News & Observer and other media outlets.
“If a picture is worth 1,000 words, recorded video and audio has even greater worth in the realm of transparency and accountability,” Tadych said.
The Highway Patrol objected to the release amid an ongoing internal and criminal investigation, said Joseph Vellon, representing the North Carolina Highway Patrol.
“When we talk about footage that captures the circumstances of potential offenses, potential misconduct, releasing that into the public could indirectly impact and apply pressure to decision makers in different types of proceedings,” Vellon said, in criminal proceedings or related to personnel decisions.
What happened on Oct. 7, 2024?
On Oct. 7, Tyrone Mason’s 2018 Chevrolet Malibu slammed into a concrete barrier around 2:32 a.m. The 31-year-old was pronounced dead near the crash site on Capital Boulevard, according to a state medical examiner’s report.
Following the crash, State Trooper Garrett Macario denied any involvement beyond driving up to the wreck and calling it in, according to search warrants obtained by the State Bureau of Investigation.
However, Mason’s mother, Henrietta, didn’t believe the trooper’s story and her weeks-long quest for transparency spurred a state investigation into Macario and his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison. In three search warrants sought by a State Bureau of Investigation, a special agent said the videos he reviewed showed that Macario told his supervisor Sgt. Matthew Morrison that he tried to pull Mason over.
“Sgt. Morrison then told Trooper Macario not to tell responding Raleigh Police Department Officers that he tried to stop Mason before the traffic accident,” the agent wrote in the search warrants.
In early January, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman reviewed the videos and started dismissing about 200 of the trooper and his supervisor’s traffic and driving while intoxicated cases, due to concerns about their credibility, she said.
Since Dec. 23, 2024 Freeman and the SBI have been investigating whether the officers committed the crime of obstruction of justice, according to SBI search warrants and interviews. The Highway Patrol is also investigating, according to court documents. The Highway Patrol placed Macario and Morrison on administrative leave on Jan. 10.
Freeman told the judge Friday that she has all the information she needs to move forward and plans to make a determination in a couple of weeks.
“I do believe, given the fact that the state has taken dismissal of 180 driving while impaired cases roughly, as a result of the substance of what’s contained in these videos, that there is a compelling public interest,” to release the videos at an appropriate time, Freeman said.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published May 16, 2025 at 10:16 AM with the headline "Media, Raleigh Police want NC state trooper videos. What the judge said.."
