Trucker remains hospitalized

A Sparks man remained in the hospital Thursday after being injured in an accident on Old Highway 395 due to high winds.

Dwain Darr, 43, was listed in serious condition at Washoe Medical Center with a head injury he sustained in an accident Wednesday morning in Washoe Valley.

Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Todd Hartline said Darr was northbound when the second trailer of a southbound Matheson Fast freight tractor-trailer was blown into his path by 75 mph winds.

The Matheson truck, driven by William Watson, 43, of Reno, was not overturned, but its trailer was shredded from the impact of the crash.

Another truck that had stopped for the collision was also overturned by the winds.

At least four other big rigs were toppled by the gale-force winds that socked Washoe Valley from early morning until about 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Glen Shippley, 43, of Reno, was pulled from his Swift Transportation truck when it landed on its side in a ditch near the Old Highway 395 and East Lake Boulevard intersection. He was taken to the hospital where he was treated and released, Hartline said.

Authorities were forced to leave the trucks where they lay until Thursday morning when winds died down and it was safe enough to remove them.