RALEIGH, N.C. — Two North Carolina State Highway Patrol officers are on administrative leave and dozens of cases have been dismissed after the Wake County district attorney said they gave false information to Raleigh police during an investigation.

So far, 180 court cases involving at least one state trooper have been dismissed, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman confirmed. She told ABC11 that she had no choice but to dismiss the case because of doubts about Trooper Garrett Macario’s reliability and credibility as a witness.

“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.

Freeman confirmed she is also reviewing cases handled by another state trooper, Sgt. Matthew 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.

As of Jan. 10, both troopers are on administrative leave.

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. According to Freeman, Macario was involved in the investigation.

She said that after watching the body cam and dashcam of his 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.

Dismissals frustrate victims’ advocates

The dismissals were also frustrating for victims advocates like Ollie Jefferson from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

“You know, somehow they always seem to get the victim. They may be victimized again, because if the case is dismissed, then that means that they are again, they are left without restitution,’ she said. “They are left without any compensation for what they you know, for what they endured.”

Some cases involved a hit and run, reckless driving, speeding, and in some cases where the driver blew more than double the legal limit.

Jefferson hopes as some drivers may get off on a technicality, they don’t take a second chance for granted.

“So I hope they will learn from this and say, I’m not going drink and drive again. I’m not going to drive impaired. Again, you know, I’ll get out, be responsible. I get a designated driver. And that’s why I will be responsible,” she said.

This story was first reported by AXIOS Raleigh.