Michael Ronald Wilson
Agency patch
Deputy Sheriff

Michael Ronald Wilson

Kern County Sheriff's Office — Bakersfield, CA
Accident
End of Watch October 11, 1981
Age 31
Tour of Duty 1 yrs 6 mo
Badge 300
The Vigil Panel 125 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Deputy Sheriff Michael Wilson was killed when his patrol car was struck head-on by an 19-year-old driver who was passing several cars at 1600 hours. He and his training officer were en route to Lake Isabella when the accident occurred. Deputy Wilson suffered several head and internal injuries and was pronounced dead upon arrival to Kern Medical Center. The driver and three passengers with her suffered moderate injuries. She was charged with vehicular manslaughter. Deputy Wilson had only served with the agency for six weeks and had served in law enforcement for 18 months.

Survivors

He was survived by his wife, two daughters, parents, and two brothers.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-CA-4708B67F
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 2, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

You barely got started.
Deputy Sheriff Wilson gave the Kern County Sheriff's Office 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Bakersfield community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Wilson.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location Bakersfield, CA
Platform Identity kcso.kern.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 11, 1981
Tour of Duty 1 yrs 6 mo
Age 31
Badge Number 300
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Deputy Sheriff Michael Ronald Wilson is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In CA, 719 of 1,837 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

At Kern County Sheriff's Office, 18 of 28 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 64.3% of this agency's fallen.

Kern County Sheriff's Office
18
of 28 officers
64.3% Accident
CA — Statewide
719
of 1,837 officers
39.1% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Michael Ronald Wilson's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How Michael Ronald Wilson Compares

Age at End of Watch
31
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years
Years of Service
1.5
This officer
Avg for Accident: 9.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Michael Ronald Wilson is highlighted in Oct.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897