A young man who escaped the clutches of a murderous hitch-hiker is subsequently stalked, framed for the hitcher’s crimes, and has his life made into hell by the same man he escaped.

While driving through the New Mexico Desert during a rainy night, the college students Jim Halsey and his girlfriend Grace Andrews give a ride to the hitchhiker John Ryder. While in their car, the stranger proves to be a psychopath threatening the young couple with a knife, but Jim succeeds to throw him out of the car on the road. On the next morning, the young couple sees John in another car.

When Sheriff Bill Abrams is attacked during a routine traffic stop, the would-be Killer leaves him for dead, using his gun, badge and vehicle to terrorize the residents of a small desert town. “Cop vs. Killer” is a thriller in the style of “No Country For Old Men” meets “The Hitcher”.