PITTSFIELD – A local man was arrested early Sunday and charged with falsely reporting that his parents’ car had been stolen.

Trafton Holmes, 18, of Washington Street reported the 1995 Ford Taurus stolen at 3:46 a.m., just moments after Officer Brian Golder found the car upside down in a ditch on Grove Hill less than a half-mile from Holmes’ home.

Holmes told police that two male intruders at his home took a single key off a ring of keys, and that he struggled with the men in the driveway before they stole the car.

A witness to the accident, however, saw a single male running from the car into nearby woods.

Maine State Police Trooper Christopher Carr responded with a tracking dog and found a bloodied, dirty T-shirt in the woods. When interviewed, Holmes had cuts on his forehead, cheek and hands that he said he suffered in the fight with the car thieves.

Golder said the version of events provided by Holmes “just didn’t match the physical evidence.”

Holmes was charged with filing a false report, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, failing to report a personal injury accident, and violation of a temporary driver’s permit.

The car was considered a total loss.