Tn - Police Report Says My Car Was In An Accident A Year Ago. I've Owned It Since New. Officer Admitted They Never Verified The Vin. How Do I Fix This?

Location: Tennessee

I bought a 2023 SUV brand new in May 2023 and have been the sole owner. It has never been in an accident.

I went to trade it in last week, and the deal fell apart because the Carfax shows a "Severe Accident" with "Airbag Deployment" from February 2025 in a city about 5 hours away from me.

I pulled the police report from that city. It lists my exact VIN and license plate, but the owner and driver is listed as a complete stranger who I don’t know. The insurance policy listed on the report is also fake (my insurance company confirmed this).

I managed to get the reporting officer on the phone. They admitted that they werent actually at the scene when the crash happened. They wrote the report "after the fact" based on photos provided by the driver and it was reported as a hit and run. they admitted they never looked at the physical VIN plate on the dashboard. I think they likely just ran the tag number from the photo, and their computer auto-filled my VIN into the report.

My theory is that the person driving the wrecked car was using a "cloned" plate that matched mine. Since the officer didn't verify the VIN, they didn't catch that the car in the crash wasn't actually my vehicle.

The police department is refusing to issue a correction supplement. They keep telling me that since the car in the crash "matched the description" of my car, they stand by the report.

But physically, this is impossible. If my car had its airbags deployed and was "severe" damaged a year ago, there would be a paper trail of repairs, salvage title, or replaced parts. My car is sitting in my driveway with factory-original paint and original airbags and I know for a fact it has never been in an accident. I know the report is incorrect but I can't get anyone to work with me.

My questions:

1. Is there something specific I can ask the police to do to check if the reported driver/owner ever registered a car with our VIN? I thought an officer would have to validate the VIN.
2. If I get a forensic inspection of my car proving the airbags are original and never deployed, does the police department have a legal obligation to accept that as proof the report is false?

I just need to clear this record so I can trade in my car. Thanks in advance!