Family of man killed in case involving suspended state trooper hires civil rights attorneys
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- There are growing calls for two North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) troopers to be fired. This stems from an investigation into a deadly crash that happened in Raleigh in October 2024 involving the state trooper who investigated the accident.
The case has already led to the dismissal of nearly 200 cases handled by one of the troopers who has been identified as Garrett Macario. Trooper Macario investigated the 2024 crash on Capital Boulevard.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said after looking at bodycam video in January, it was discovered that Macario gave false information. This brought his reliability and credibility as a witness into question, Freeman said. According to the DA, this led to the dismissal of 180 of Marcario's cases so far.
"It's incredibly frustrating. We trust our law enforcement to tell the truth. And when we have reason to believe they aren't, it's disgusting, frankly. It's frustrating," Freeman said.
On Monday, the family of 31-year-old Tyrone Mason, who was killed in the Capital Boulevard crash, announced they've hired civil rights lawyers Ben Crump and Bakari Sellers.
Macario and his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison have been on administrative leave since Jan. 10
In a statement to ABC11, Sellers said in part, "If the North Carolina State Highway Patrol wants to show their commitment to transparency and accountability, they should fire Garrett Macario and Matthew Morrison right now."
Sellers and Crump said they are weighing all options, including filing a lawsuit.
In January, Freeman confirmed that she is also reviewing cases handled by Morrison. She anticipates dismissals in his cases as well and also more cases involving Macario.
"I would hope what the community takes away from this is the vast number of cases going through the system and that officers in Wake County are doing a good job and want to do the right thing," she said.
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WATCH | Dozens of Wake County court cases dismissed, 2 state troopers under investigation
How the investigation unfolded
The investigation started in December when the State Bureau of Investigation received a tip about a deadly car crash along Capital Boulevard in October.
Freeman said that after watching the body cam and dashcam of Macario's exchange with Raleigh police officers at the crash scene, she determined he gave misleading or false information to those officers.
Freeman says Macario's "credibility" was "impaired," and made the call to dismiss dozens of cases he had investigated. She said the majority of them were driving while impaired (DWI) cases.
"We are going to do the right thing as prosecutors and step up and seek justice. It's important we do it the right way. We have to be able to rely on officers to speak the truth. When that's in question, we have a responsibility to not move forward in those cases," Freeman said.
The SBI has been tapped to lead the investigation into the case. It's not yet known whether the troopers in question will face criminal charges.
