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.

The video was obtained by The Greenville News through a Freedom of Information Act request.

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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.

Vaughn pulled off the roadway and radioed to dispatch that a crash had taken place.

Policy on vehicle and foot pursuits for the state Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Highway Patrol, requires a supervisor to be notified and monitor all pursuits as they are in progress.

"Were you trying to stop them, or what you got?" Vaughn's supervisor is heard saying on the dashcam video.

"They went onto 85, and I was trying to get up to them," Vaughn said.

"Were you 10-0 (code for engaged in a pursuit in progress), because I never heard any radio traffic in reference to that?" the supervisor responded.

"Negative. I was trying to catch up," Vaughn replied.

Vaughn was fired for failure to provide complete and truthful information. He'd joined the Highway Patrol in March 2018 in his first job in law enforcement in South Carolina.

Washington, the driver of the Ford, was hospitalized after the crash and was later charged with felony DUI resulting in death and failure to stop for blue lights. Those charges are pending. Washington was being held in the Greenville County Detention Center as of Tuesday and did not have an attorney listed in online court records.

Vaughn did not respond to a Facebook message seeking comment Tuesday.

Bruce Wilson, a community activist, said the Mansell and Washington families believe the pursuit should have never occurred.

"We believe had he called the pursuit in that supervisor wouldn’t have authorized it because it was over a simple speeding violation," Wilson said. "If we can get individuals to follow policy, it can save lives. That’s why we have policies."

Attorney Sam Tooker is one of multiple lawyers representing Mansell's estate and working on behalf of the family to "aggressively" investigate the case.

"I believe he said twice on that video that he wasn’t in pursuit and was, quote-unquote, catching up to him," Tooker said. "Our firms have been investigating the case."

By Wednesday, Wilson released a statement on behalf of Mansell's family:

"We appreciate the fact that this trooper was held accountable but we would much rather have our love one back. Michael was a great person, and a cherished member of our family who will be truly missed."

Daniel J. Gross is an investigative watchdog reporter focusing on public safety and law enforcement for The Greenville News. Reach him at dgross@greenvillenews.com or on Twitter @danieljgross.