A man who recently led police on an hour-long chase from Cody to the Belfry area will need to come up with $25,000 if he wants to get out of jail while his case is pending.

Gerald L. Johnston, 56, is facing a felony count of burglary and a misdemeanor count of unauthorized use of a credit card. He made his first appearance in Park County Circuit Court on Friday.

Johnston is alleged to have broken into a vehicle at a South Fork campground and stolen a woman’s backpack on March 13; he then allegedly used the woman’s credit card at the Cody Walmart and tried selling her wallet online.

Park County Undersheriff Andy Varian tried pulling Johnston over just outside Cody on March 16, but the suspect fled. Johnston made it through Cody and Badger Basin to a spot south of Belfry, Montana — tossing various objects from the window of his Ford Expedition as he went. Officers later determined the jettisoned items “were pieces of stolen property from Park County [Wyoming],” Sgt. Jon Croft of the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an affidavit. Court records don’t say what items were stolen or from where; authorities are continuing to investigate Johnston’s actions in the area.

The March 16 chase came to stop after Carbon County Sheriff’s deputies punctured Johnston’s tires with spike strips. The suspect turned off Montana Highway 72 and onto Sunlight Ranch property, where he intentionally crashed into a vinyl fence and a pine tree, Croft wrote.

Johnston then refused to get out of his Expedition, instead “requesting that we shoot him,” Croft said. “After 36 minutes the defendant finally exited the vehicle without incident.”

The 6 foot, 8 inch, 290-pound man — who had his two dogs in the vehicle — was then arrested.

Prosecutors in Carbon County, Montana, initially filed five charges against Johnston, but later dismissed their case, which means Park County will handle the matter. Johnston was transferred from Montana and booked into the Cody jail on Wednesday afternoon, then appeared before Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters Friday morning.

Johnston’s bond had been set at $50,000 while he was being held in Montana, but on Friday, Deputy Park County Attorney Larry Eichele suggested $20,000.

“What turned out to be … a multi-state pursuit shows a disregard for public safety,” Eichele said in arguing for that figure, adding that, “We believe he’s a flight risk also.”

For his part, Johnston said he didn’t understand the $20,000 recommendation. The suspect, who said he is disabled, said his horse trailer and camper were still “sitting up on the South Fork,” while his vehicle was in Montana and his service dog was at the Cody animal shelter.

“I don’t know what else to say,” Johnston said.

Judge Waters, however, thought $20,000 was too low, instead setting Johnston’s bail at $25,000.

“Clearly you’re a flight risk given the circumstance — leading law enforcement on a chase,” Waters said, calling the alleged burglary and credit card misuse “a problem as well.”

Authorities have hinted that additional charges could be coming, with the Park County Sheriff’s Office saying Johnston is a suspect in “multiple mail thefts.”

Court records, news accounts and Johnston’s own social media posts indicate a past history of both mental health issues and criminal behavior. For example, he was convicted of sex crimes in Marion County, Oregon, in 1990, and in 2002, he began a more than a decade-long prison sentence for kidnapping, robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and attempting to elude police convictions in Lane County, Oregon. Johnston also led law enforcement officers on a lengthy chase in Moses Lake, Washington, in 2018 — making this month’s flight at least his third such incident.