Sportsman's Warehouse driver jailed for woman's death

The driver of Gardnerville's only fatal crash of 2023 was sentenced to 30 days in jail Wednesday after admitting to negligent homicide.

The man responsible for the 2021 Sportsman's Warehouse crash that injured half a dozen people is serving a prison sentence after admitting Wednesday to a count of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the March 2023 death of Gardnerville resident Joyce Chambers.

Ronald David Wilkerson, 70, was taken into custody after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge in East Fork County Court.

The sentence included 30 days in jail, already served, and 150 days of probation for two years, with the condition that Wilkerson pay $1,200 in fines and fees and not drive.

According to the Nevada Highway Patrol report, on March 6, 2023, Wilkerson was driving south on Highway 395 near Service Drive in Gardnerville when his 2021 Prius began drifting across the northbound lanes and across the pavement at 65 mph, according to witnesses.

According to the investigation, the Prius struck a traffic sign and a tree and then spun until the right side struck a utility pole, killing Chambers.

Wilkerson was still on probation at the time of the Jan. 15, 2021, collision in which he drove a white Prius into the Sportsman's Warehouse in Carson City.

Because he received only six months' probation when he was sentenced on January 24, 2023 for criminal disregard for safety resulting in death or bodily harm, Wilkerson managed to avoid violating his probation even though the collision occurred before the end of his probation period.

The investigation into the accident was not completed until the end of last year, when his suspended sentence had already expired. His driver's license had only been reinstated three weeks before the accident on February 16, 2023.

According to his driving history, Wilkerson rear-ended a dump truck on January 23, 2018, and on August 23, 2020, he left the highway and struck a utility pole.

He told a Reno television station that the accident happened at Sportsman's Warehouse when he suffered an epileptic seizure after leaving the Department of Motor Vehicles where his driver's license had been suspended.