Officer lied about a pursuit that led to a fatal collision

Skip to 2:20 for the crash

A state Highway Patrol trooper has been fired after an investigation revealed he lied to supervisors about a pursuit that led to a fatal crash in Greenville this summer.

Trooper Austyn Vaughn, 23, was terminated Sept. 25 after the Highway Patrol reviewed the case and found that he broke agency policy and lied about whether he was engaged in a pursuit before the crash.

His background file from the state Criminal Justice Academy includes a termination letter that states that he did not admit that he was engaged in a pursuit until after his supervisor reviewed the dashcam video.

Vaughn pulled behind a Ford Fusion on July 8 after he noticed the car was speeding. After the trooper activated his emergency lights, the driver of the Ford, Kent Washington, sped away and the trooper pursued the car at a high rate of speed onto Interstate 85, the dashcam video shows.

Weaving through traffic, the pursuit lasted about one minute and 53 seconds - covering two miles - before the driver of the Ford tried to exit the interstate onto Augusta Road and veered off the exit ramp before going down an embankment.

A passenger in the car, 30-year-old Michael Mansell, of Greenville, died at the scene.

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