By Jane Braxton Little
Bee Correspondent
QUINCY - A correctional officer at High Desert State Prison is under investigation for two incidents of making false reports of crimes to the Plumas County Sheriff's Department.
Todd Posch, a sergeant at the California prison in Susanville, told Plumas deputies he had been struck by a vehicle in front of his Greenville residence early Wednesday morning.
The vehicle fled from the scene, he told the officers who questioned him at Plumas District Hospital where he was being treated for injuries.
The investigation determined that Posch fabricated the hit-and-run incident and that his injuries were self-inflicted, said Steve Peay, a Plumas sheriff's investigations sergeant.
Under questioning, Posch also confessed to fabricating a report he made March 27 describing an attack by up to three men at a highway rest stop near Canyon Dam, Peay said.
That incident triggered a manhunt for up to three suspects in a brown sport utility vehicle who officials said may have been former prisoners seeking retaliation on a guard.
The cuts, stab wounds and broken ribs Posch allegedly sustained in March were also self-inflicted, Peay said.
Posch was cited and released pending review of the case by the Plumas County District Attorney's office.
Although Posch was not at work at High Desert Prison on Friday, a prison spokesman said no administrative action would normally be taken on an employee until completion of a full investigation.
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