The man who drove his car through the front doors of the Sportsman’s Warehouse January 15, injuring five people made his first appearance in Carson City Court on Tuesday. Ronald Wilkerson of Gardnerville had just left the Department of Motor Vehicles a block away after being told his driver’s license was suspended when he turned west on Wright Way and accelerated his Toyota Prius through the stop sign on Stewart Street, ran over the curb, across the store’s parking lot and into the east side doors of Sportsman’s Warehouse. The vehicle hit three people walking out of the building then struck three more people inside near the cash registers. The car stopped but then accelerated again inside the store, finally coming to rest against the interior of the store’s west wall most of 100 yards away. Five of the six victims had to be hospitalized. Justice of the Peace Tom Armstrong ordered Wilkerson not to drive and to take his medicines as prescribed. Carson District Attorney Jason Woodbury said Armstrong set a pre-trial conference in the case for April 14. Wilkerson faces two counts of reckless driving causing substantial bodily harm — Category B felonies — and driving without a valid license.
