6-Year Term for Drunk Driver in Fatal Crash

A 32-year-old Orange man was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for drinking and driving and causing a crash that killed a woman five days before Christmas.

Anthony Douglas Bithell, a Gulf War veteran, pleaded guilty last month to drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter charges in the Dec. 20 death of Lori Ann Curler.

Bithell admitted driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.25%, more than three times the legal limit, when he ran a red light and broadsided a car driven by the 34-year-old woman, who was heading home after a computer class.

The defendant did not have a previous record of drunken driving and expressed remorse before receiving the sentence from Superior Court Judge Nancy Wieben Stock.

Curler’s family members said they were disappointed Bithell did not receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

“He could have killed any number of people that night,” said Ronald McInroy, Curler’s father. “He ran the red light and was speeding. I felt we had a case [for the maximum.]

“We want to discourage this kind of thing--make an example.”

The prosecutor and defense attorney could not be reached for comment.

Curler, an Orange apartment manager, was traveling east on Lincoln Avenue near State College Boulevard in Anaheim when Bithell ran a red light and smashed into her car, killing her instantly. Her husband and 6-year-old son, worried when she didn’t arrive home that night, drove out looking for her and came upon the crash scene.

McInroy said he wants changes that would allow stiffer sentences in drunken driving cases. His family also is leading a campaign to build a memorial wall at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress for victims of drunken drivers.