WASHINGTON — A federal judge has found 73-year-old Earl Teeter of Hyattsville guilty of “failure to exercise due care” to avoid the crash that killed a D.C. man and seriously injured his fiancée earlier this year.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas DiGirolamo said federal prosecutors proved their case, and found testimony from a U.S. Park Police officer supported the contention that Teeter should have exercised more caution when he approached the disabled car along the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
On Feb. 1, a car hit 38-year-old Rick Warrick of D.C. and his 28-year-old fiancee, Julie Pearce, as they changed a tire on the parkway north of Route 197 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Teeter pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of the crash that killed Warrick and injured Pearce.
Hollis Wiesman, the federal prosecutor in the case, showed a video from the night of the crash that shows the hazard lights, or “flashers,” on Warrick’s car were clearly visible on the approach to the vehicle, suggesting that Teeter should’ve been able to see them from some distance.
When Teeter took the stand, she questioned him about how much distance he tried to give himself as he approached Warrick’s disabled car. He told the court he tried to allow two feet between his car and Warrick’s.
Weisman questioned whether that was enough room to be safe. Teeter interrupted at one point saying, “ma’am, I was as careful as I knew how to be.”
The hit-and-run case was widely reported because Warrick’s college-aged daughter, who was in the car when the crash happened, was distraught when she called 911 and unable to give a clear location for the collision.
A frustrated 911 call taker told her to “stop whining.”
Anne Arundel County fire officials reported later that the call taker was “no longer employed” by the department.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
