Drivers get prison time for roles in fatal crashes

Bill Gang

Thursday, Nov. 11, 1999 | 11:47 a.m.

The criminal charges that resulted from three serious auto accidents have sent two men to prison and placed another on probation for five years.

Johnathan Ragsdale, who pleaded guilty to running down and then leaving a mortally injured 31-year-old woman in a dirt area beside Las Vegas Boulevard North, has been sentenced to 28 to 70 months in prison.

The family of Joyce Kidder, who was hit while walking to visit a paraplegic person she cared for, said they think she could have been saved if she had received immediate medical attention.

But after stopping and looking briefly at his victim, the 29-year-old Ragsdale drove off in his minivan and left Kidder lying unconscious beside Las Vegas Boulevard North near Lamont Street.

Nearly a half hour passed before the woman was found by two other people walking in the area and was taken to University Medical Center for treatment.

She died 18 hours after she was injured in the early morning hours of Aug. 31, according to Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker.

Ragsdale, who was tracked down through an anonymous tip to police, pleaded guilty to felony reckless driving and on Wednesday was sentenced to the prison term by District Judge Joseph Bonaventure.

In the second case, a man who fell asleep and ran off the road -- killing his passenger -- while driving near Nye County on the road to Pahrump was sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison.

David Brian Moore had pleaded guilty to felony drunken driving for the Nov. 1, 1998, incident that resulted in the death of Billy Ray Box in the single vehicle accident.

Booker said the pair had been out drinking and Moore's blood-alcohol level was 0.16 percent when it was tested shortly after the incident. Box's blood-alcohol level was 0.23 percent. The minimum level to prove drunken driving is 0.10 percent.

The prosecutor noted that Moore's blood test revealed cocaine and cocaine residue in his system.

In the third case, Luis Mejia was given probation for drunken driving, felony reckless driving and second-degree kidnapping over an Aug. 21 collision that injured his young nephew.