• U.S.
  • Accident

911 Operator Tells Teen Whose Dad Is Fatally Hit to ‘Stop Whining’

1 minute read

A Maryland operator on a 911 call told a teenage girl to “stop whining” while her father lay dying on the Baltimore Washington Parkway.

Rick Warrick, 38, was struck by a car in a hit and run when he leaned down to change a flat tire along the parkway in Anne Arundel County, NBC reports. He and his fiancee and two teenage children were on their way to Dave & Buster’s when their tire went flat.

Warrick’s teenage daughter called 911 when her father and fiancee were struck. When the teen asks, “Can y’all please hurry up!” the operator says, “Ma’am, stop yelling, I need a location.” When the operator asks if two people were struck, the girl responds, “Yes they both…” Then the operator says “Ok, let’s stop whining. Ok, let’s stop whining it’s hard to understand you.”

The operator used a poor choice of words, said Russ Davis of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. “However, what he was attempting to do was to get her attention, to start ascertaining information from her,” Davis said.

The driver who struck Warrick hasn’t come forward.

[NBC]

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com