There’s no denying that a tragedy occurred on October 7th, 2024. And there’s no denying that driver Tyrone Mason and two North Carolina state troopers all made horrible mistakes. But now, Mason’s dead and his grieving family is arguing the police officers responsible have yet to face justice.

Tyrone Mason’s mistake

In the early hours of October 7th, 31-year-old Tyrone Mason drove down Raleigh North Carolina’s Capital Boulevard. He was moving over 70 mph in a 40 mph zone. His BAC was 0.11.

After he passed NC state trooper Garrett Macario’s patrol car, Macario chased him. Mason presumably saw Macario’s lights and heard his sirens. But instead of pulling over, he sped up. After less than one minute, Mason had sped up to 100 mph. At this point, Macario switched off his lights and sirens and slowed down.

Then Macario caught up with Mason again, because Mason had lost control and crashed his car. Macario drove off the divided road and across the grass to pul a U-turn as fast as possible. He returned to the scene of the crash and immediately radioed for an ambulance. Then he got out of his car and did something else.

Garret Macario’s mistake

Macario also radioed trooper Matthew Morrison. Morrison had some advice: “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.”

When Raleigh police arrived, Macario took Morrison’s advice. “Were you like pulling him over or something?” Raleigh police officer R. Urena asked him? Macario responded, “No, this is a little area I work…I came up on him and I saw the smoke and heard all the cars hitting the debris.”

When audio of Macario and Morrison’s radio conversation emerged, the District Attorney acted swiftly. The office put both officers on administrative leave. It also decided they couldn’t be trusted. It dropped 200 pending cases that involved either trooper. But it did not file criminal charges against them.

Mason’s family is demanding further action. The family’s attorney said to the county, “You refuse to file charges against the killer cops.”

Judge Freeman agrees that the officers on administrative leave should lose their jobs over their lies. But has not called either a “killer” responsible for Mason’s death. The investigation report agreed:

“Trooper Macario’s efforts to stop Mr. Mason do not give rise to any criminal violation. At the time Trooper Macario first observed Mr. Mason, Mr. Mason was traveling at a rate of speed over 70 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone. Trooper Macario was taking appropriate traffic enforcement action when Mr. Mason failed to heed the patrol car’s blue lights and accelerated…Mr. Mason posed a public safety risk to other motorists on the road. While not known at the time, Mr. Mason was also impaired at the time of this incident, further increasing the risk he created to others. While Trooper Macario initially attempted pursuit of Mr. Mason, he quickly deactivated his blue lights and disengaged within forty-five seconds when he realized that Mr. Mason was at risk of wrecking. The totality of these factors leads to a finding that there was no criminal violation by Macario in his initial pursuit of Mr. Mason.”

— Investigation report

Want to know more? You can see the bodycam and dashcam footage of the incident embedded below: