Motorcyclists already have a hard enough time looking good in the public eye. We don’t need any help with negative press. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have told Phillip Michael Clevenger, a 27-year-old rider in Sandy, Utah, that. Well, Clevenger is innocent until proven guilty; however, these are the allegations he faces.
Clevenger has been charged with allegedly assaulting his 76-year-old neighbor after the elderly man told the younger rider to stop revving his motorcycle’s engine at 1 am. The charge against Clevenger is intentional or knowing aggravated abuse of a vulnerable adult and interfering with a peace officer. The former crime is a second-degree felony, while the latter is a Class B misdemeanor.
After the Sandy City Police Department was contacted about the alleged assault on March 23, officers went to the neighborhood where they met the 76-year-old man, who said that he had been physically assaulted. He explained that Clevenger was revving his bike as the elderly man pulled into the garages at their shared apartment complex, so he walked outside to ask him to stop. Allegedly, Clevenger then got off his motorcycle, pushed his elderly neighbor to the ground, before hitting him several times in the face.
When the police officers went to Clevenger’s house, he had a different take regarding how the situation unfolded. According to the rider, he wasn’t revving his motorcycle. Instead, he insisted that it was just loud at idle, and he was “walking back” with it to the garage. On his way back, he said that the 76-year-old man “grabbed him” and yelled about the noise of the bike, and said that “this was not the first time the victim had approached him and that he felt the need to defend himself and his property.”
Clevenger didn’t deny that he got into an altercation, and admitted to pushing the man to the ground and punching him several times, although he claimed that it was all in self-defense. One of the officers reportedly noted there was an odor of alcohol when speaking with Clevenger and that his behavior was escalating. Officers placed Clevenger under arrest; however, he resisted.
Eventually, the officers restrained and arrested Clevenger and booked him into the Salt Lake County Jail. He was released soon after, but when charges were filed, he was again booked into jail. This time, though, he posted bond and is being supervised by pretrial services. It’s not entirely fair to associate Clevenger with giving motorcyclists a bad reputation, as that would be to assume guilt.
If you want to be associated with all the good motorcyclists do, take part in the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in whatever capacity possible. It’s one of the most rewarding, however painful, things I’ve ever done, and for a great cause, so I’ll plug it as many times as possible before it takes place on May 17.
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