Judge tells man to pay for totaled stolen car

A man convicted of stealing an elderly couple’s car and totaling it while intoxicated last October was sentenced to five years probation this week in District Court.

Clayton Walker, 34, appeared in court Monday morning to be sentenced on a single charge of attempted theft.

He was originally arrested in the case on Oct. 14, 2012 after a Nye County Sheriff’s deputy found a single vehicle accident on State Route 160 in front of Gold Town Casino.

The officer subsequently made contact with the driver, who identified himself as Jordan Walker.

Walker, who was found sitting next to the totaled vehicle, reportedly smelled of alcohol and his eyes were red and watery as police spoke with him at the scene.

He allegedly told officers he had consumed four alcoholic beverages that evening, before later correcting himself stating he only had two.

He was transported to the local hospital to be treated as police continued to investigate.

An arrest report notes the car he was driving reportedly smelled of alcohol and when police contacted Walker’s mother to obtain further information about his current address, deputies were informed her son Jordan was born in 2009, so they must be inquiring about her older son Clayton.

It was also later discovered the car Walker had wrecked was stolen shortly before the accident from a home in the 1300 block of White Street and that Walker had a suspended license in the state of Nevada.

Once he had been cleared medically from the hospital, Clayton was placed under arrest and transported to the Nye County Detention Center to be booked into custody.

He was later released, but arrested again on a bench warrant after he missed his original sentencing date on Feb. 11.

Walker explained to the court this week his mother had knee surgery around the time of his last scheduled appearance and he had to take care of her, which is why he failed to appear.

He apologized, however, telling Judge Robert Lane he became spooked after receiving a letter he had failed to appear, which is why he didn’t turn himself in sooner.

A victim in the case opted to testify at the hearing, telling the judge she had incurred several thousand dollars’ worth of expenses as a result of Walker stealing and totaling her car.

“He came onto our driveway of our house, our car was up right by our porch. He was trespassing into our yard. He stole the car, and not only that, but we found out later that night he crashed our car on Highway 160 in town by Terrible’s. It was a total.

“We had to get a loan out for another car, which we don’t have that much money for living on. Our social security and we’re living on retirement so we don’t have much money. He was drunk at the time, he had a suspended license and he was using the identification of another person at the time. For the money for the car, the bluebook value reads $3,500. I think he needs to be sentenced for all of the above, all of the crimes that he committed,” she said.

The woman told the court the couple had to pay between $200 and $300 per month for a new car loan in addition to paying a one-time fee of $300 to the tow yard where their totaled vehicle was initially taken.

Taking all of that into consideration, Lane placed Walker, who is currently working, on probation for a period of five years and ordered him to repay the victims $5,300 for the expenses they incurred.

Should he successfully complete probation without any further adverse contact with law enforcement and successfully pays all of his restitution, Walker will be allowed to come back before the court and withdraw his guilty plea to a felony charge and plead guilty to a gross misdemeanor, wiping the felony from his record. Should he fail, Walker is facing 12 to 32 months in prison for the offense.