Man Gets Six Months in Death of Jogger
A Brea man who was reaching for a cell phone when his van struck and fatally injured a 71-year-old jogger pleaded guilty Friday to vehicular manslaughter in Orange County Superior Court.
He was sentenced to six months in jail and three years’ probation, officials said.
Brian Scott Lankford, 38, will serve the jail term concurrently with a previously imposed 16-month prison term for violating probation on an earlier conviction.
A blood test found he was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of the accident.
Lankford swerved into a bike lane near Lambert Road and Valencia Avenue in Fullerton on April 12 and struck retired pharmacist Eric Burton, who later died.
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