Ayup, like I said, he probably has had a bunch of idiots coming over from the neighborhood going "bogging" on his property, so he's already wound up like a clock spring for any kind of 4x4 types and the mud already on your vehicle fixed it in his mind even though it was dry. It still doesn't excuse him making up stories to the cops. Any good defense person will probably deal with the prosecutor before court, but if it goes to court, they will *roast* them in court.
Things like "Was the mud wet or dry? Dry? How long do you suppose they were sitting there to let it dry like that? So if it was that long, is it reasonable to say that they had been trespassing? Was the mud on the Jeep consistent with the dirt from the field? (Clay versus dark growing soil etc.) You assert they got the flat and damage from a fencepost, did you go inspect the fencepost? How much damage was done to the fencepost? Is it reasonable for that much damage to a fencepost to have done that damage to the bumper? How do you suppose a fencepost would leave a 4 inch scratch and nothing else? Was there residual transfer from the fencepost on the Jeep and vice versa to indicate that it was not already existing damage to the fencepost or the Jeep? If you assert the Jeep was in the field tracking all that mud, were there obvious tracks from the field to the Jeep where it had come to the position you found it in? What about the direction the Jeep was facing? Was it consistent with it having come from the field with a flat tire?" I could go on and on and on and on... what a waste of the legal system, court time, taxpayer money etc. due to a lack of very basic investigative skills being applied before laying charges.
I scratch my head when I hear about things like this, wondering why the hiring process etc. for officers fails so miserably. They aren't bad people, but to be honest, when you grab a really young person without the life experiences and stuff them into situations where a lot of thought, common sense and judgment is required, you are just asking for stuff like this. OTOH, I've seen more senior officers show the same lack of thought process.