Kalven McPherson

A Cody motorcyclist is facing multiple misdemeanor charges on allegations that he fled from authorities after being caught driving 118 mph.

Kalven P. McPherson, 25, faces misdemeanor counts of eluding police, reckless driving, driving without a valid license and speeding. He pleaded not guilty to the four charges at a May 9 appearance in Park County Circuit Court.

As of Wednesday, McPherson remained in custody, with bail set at $10,000. If he is released, Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah has barred McPherson from operating a motor vehicle for any reason while the case is pending, along with other conditions.

Charging documents say that, shortly before 4 p.m. on May 8, the Wyoming Highway Patrol clocked a black motorcycle going 118 mph on U.S. Highway 14A. A trooper tried to stop the vehicle, but the motorcyclist — later identified as McPherson — continued into the City of Cody.

In an affidavit included in court records, Trooper Brett Tillery wrote that he spotted the bike “recklessly weaving in and out of traffic” as it headed west on Big Horn Avenue.

Tillery prepared to stop the motorcycle, and the driver initially slowed, but once he passed the trooper, “he accelerated and recklessly weaved past two more vehicles,” the affidavit says.

The driver then led the trooper and a Cody police officer onto 16th Street, Wyoming Avenue, 12th Street and, ultimately, Elm Avenue, where Tillery spotted the motorcycle parked outside a residence.

No one came to the door, but a woman identified as McPherson’s sister soon pulled into the driveway. She told authorities that McPherson “said he did not answer the door because he did not want to go to prison,” Tillery recounted.

McPherson eventually spoke with authorities and denied being the one who’d ridden the motorcycle, saying he’d been home for an hour-and-a-half. However, “when McPherson answered, I noticed his left eyebrow began to twitch,” Tillery wrote, and the bike’s tires were still hot to the touch.

After the trooper and a Cody police officer told McPherson they didn’t believe him, the affidavit says he confessed to riding the motorcycle from his workplace on Road 2AB and fled from authorities “because I don’t have a license.”

Court records show McPherson has multiple prior convictions for driving without a valid license. In a May 2021 incident, he reportedly fled from Park County Sheriff’s deputies when they tried arresting him on active warrants. Charging documents allege McPherson “blew through” a stop sign in rural Powell and traveled “at a high rate of speed” before crashing into a ditch and fleeing on foot.

Several charges, including eluding police, were ultimately dismissed, but McPherson admitted to driving with a suspended license and agreed to pay for repairs to a damaged road sign.

The day after that chase north of Powell, on May 22, 2021, McPherson reportedly ran away from Cody police, who were seeking to arrest him and question him on an unrelated incident. When officers eventually found him on the second-floor landing of an apartment complex, McPherson reportedly provided a fake name and told them he’d seen someone else running away. However, he was out-of-breath and had a debit card in the name of Kalven McPherson; despite his claims that McPherson was only a “close friend,” officers took him into custody, charging documents say.

Police found 7.25 grams of apparent crystal meth in McPherson’s pocket, along with a syringe containing the drug in a liquid form, the affidavit says.

For that crime and a prior incident in which he was caught with a smaller amount of meth, McPherson served a one- to two-year prison sentence. The punishment was imposed in February 2022, and Wyoming Department of Corrections records indicate he’s completed it.

A trial on the new charges is tentatively set for Oct. 5.

McPherson’s case was quickly overshadowed, when Meeteetse resident Cameron Boni reportedly sped into the City of Powell at 143 mph on the afternoon of May 11. Boni crashed into multiple cars on Coulter Avenue and is facing two felony charges. He remained in custody on Wednesday, with bail set at $100,000. 

The Wyoming Highway Patrol expressed appreciation for the assistance that citizens and other law enforcement agencies provided in the two incidents.