Sentence upheld for driver in crash that killed 3

INDIANAPOLIS (WANE) – The three-decade sentence for a man who smashed into a car while driving drunk in an April crash in Wells County that killed three people was upheld this week by an state appellate court.

Anthony W. Dager was sentenced in August to 30 years in prison – 10 years for each of the victims of the April 4 crash on State Road 1 near Ossian. There, Dager crossed the center line and hit a vehicle head-on.

The driver, Rebecca R. Prentice, was pronounced dead at the scene along with the front seat passenger, Paul E. Penrod. The back seat passenger, Karen S. Smith was airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital, where she later died.

Dager was found with a blood-alcohol content of .16, twice the legal limit.

After the sentence, Dager appealed. That attempt failed this week.

The court of appeals, noting that Dager was on parole at the time of the incident and had a prior alcohol-related conviction, wrote in its decision that Dager’s elevated blood-alcohol content and the multiple victims “clearly warrants the imposition of consecutive sentences.”