Driver Charged in 'Stop Whining' Fatal Hit-and-Run

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A Maryland man has surrendered to federal authorities as the hit-and-run driver who killed a Washington, D.C., man in a case that gained national notoriety when the 911 dispatcher told the dying man’s teenage daughter to stop whining.

Earl Teeter, 73, of Hyattsville, turned himself in Wednesday to the U.S. Park Police, reports WBAL Radio. Teeter was released and ordered not to drive, the news outlet reports. He is scheduled for trial on June 8.

The victim, Rick Warrick, 38, of Washington, D.C., was changing a tire alongside his fiancee on when they were struck by a vehicle while Warrick’s two children waited inside the vehicle. Warrick’s fiancee, Julia Pearce, 28, was seriously injured in the accident, but survived.

The 911 dispatcher who told Warrick’s teenage daughter to “stop whining” when she called for help no longer worked for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department by late February. Authorities didn’t say if the dispatcher resigned or was fired.

The audio recording of the conversation between Warrick’s daughter and the emergency dispatcher shows the girl and her younger brother didn’t know where they were when their father pulled over to switch tires. No other car stopped to help as they waited for police to arrive.

The fatal accident happened after a trip to Arundel Mills mall Feb. 1. Warrick, a car salesman from Washington, D.C., and his fiancée had just put the last lug nut on the spare tire when they were hit around 9:15 p.m.

“Ma’am, stop yelling, I need a location,” the operator can be heard telling Warrick’s daughter in portions of the call aired by NBC4.

» Listen to the full 911 call on The Baltimore Sun website.

The teen replies that they are alongside Interstate 295, but she doesn’t have a specific location. She asks several times for help, which the dispatcher says is on the way, but he presses for more information.

Warrick’s daughter tries to describe that both her father and his fiancée are unconscious: “He can’t move, he’s unconscious, I don’t know,” the girl tells the dispatcher.

As he asks more questions on the possible location and condition of the victims, the distraught girl repeats herself.

“ OK, let’s stop whining,” the dispatcher says. “OK, let’s stop whining. It’s hard to understand you... two people were struck, correct?”

Suspect’s Statement

Teeter reportedly told investigators he didn’t know that he had struck the couple that night. WTOP reports Teeter is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and driving without care.

Investigators traced vehicle parts at the crash site to Teeter’s Toyota Sienna van and talked to him two weeks after the accident, says WTOP. Court documents say Teeter told authorities he saw a vehicle on the side of the road that night, but was unsure what his van hit.

SEE ALSO:

911 Dispatcher Who Told Girl ‘Stop Whining’ No Longer with Fire Department

‘Stop Whining’ 911 Dispatcher Tells Girl After Fatal Accident