A Penn Valley man remains in county jail after allegedly tampering with the odometer and forging a registration sticker on a car he bought and resold the very next day.

Jesse Jay Starr, 33, had purchased a Honda for about $700 from a woman in Grass Valley with fairly high mileage and a registration sticker that was two years out of date, said California Highway Patrol Officer Cindy Morgan.

“He sold it the next day, and mysteriously, the odometer read 60,000 miles less,” Morgan said. “It also had a 2012 sticker.”

Starr allegedly sold the Honda for about $1,400 to a woman who was purchasing the vehicle for her son.

The son noticed the title had different information and then realized the registration sticker was home-made, Morgan said. He went to the state department of Motor Vehicles and realized he knew the original owner, Morgan added.

“He called her and the paperwork Jesse Starr gave his mother was forged with the (original owner's) name,” Morgan said.

Morgan began investigating the alleged forgery and discovered Starr was on probation for an earlier forgery, and was due to self-surrender for a probation violation.

“We were at the probation office when he showed up and arrested him,” she said.

Starr was booked into county jail on suspicion of forgery of vehicle registration, forgery, unlawful alteration of an odometer, as well as for violating probation.

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4229.