STONEBORO -- No one might ever have learned of the auto accident in the early morning hours of Feb. 21 along a rural road in Mercer County.

Police say that appears to have been the plan when the first report came in at 10:34 a.m. Emergency crews were told that Bret A. Cox, 27, a teacher at Lakeview Middle School in Stoneboro, Mercer County, had injured his back in a fall down a flight of icy steps at his friend's apartment in New Wilmington, Lawrence County.

Paramedics arrived to find Mr. Cox on a couch, unable to move or feel anything below his chest. He was transported to a nearby high school parking lot where a helicopter picked him up and flew him to St. Elizabeth's Hospital trauma unit in Youngstown, Ohio.

His friends -- the apartment tenant, Jason R. Lane, 27, and Seth C. Bolyard, 22, of nearby Coolspring -- told police that Mr. Cox fell when he left after a night of drinking beer. Mr. Cox, who was conscious when police arrived, confirmed the story.

"But I looked at those steps," said New Wilmington police Chief Carmen Piccirillo, whose station is just across the alley behind the apartment. "There was some snow on the steps, but those steps were not in bad shape at all."

Still, with all three men telling the same story, there was no reason to doubt it, Chief Piccirillo said.

Four days later, Mr. Cox, paralyzed with a broken back in a hospital bed, contacted police in New Wilmington, about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh. He said he wanted to tell the truth.

Mr. Cox has declined to discuss the accident in detail. But based on the account he later gave to state police Cpl. James Powell, and the evidence investigators collected, criminal charges -- including reckless endangering, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence -- were filed this month against Mr. Lane and Mr. Bolyard. Mr. Lane also has been charged with assault and Mr. Bolyard with intimidation of witnesses or victims.

A hearing had been set for tomorrow but has been postponed to Jan. 4. Mr. Lane and Mr. Bolyard could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Cox told state police he had arrived at Mr. Lane's apartment at about 8:30 the night of Feb. 20. In his account, he said they'd had a few beers each before Mr. Bolyard arrived with a case of beer at about 10 p.m.

According to an affidavit filed by state police, Mr. Cox said the three men played a drinking game for an hour or so before deciding to go bar-hopping.

Mr. Lane was driving a car belonging to his girlfriend, Katey L. Huling, 22, of New Castle, Lawrence County. Mr. Cox said Mr. Bolyard mixed a bottle of liquor with orange juice for the ride, according to the affidavit.

Shortly after 1 a.m., after having beers and shots at bars in Hermitage and Sharon in Mercer County, they headed home, Mr. Cox told Cpl. Powell. He said he was in the back seat and Mr. Lane was driving, with Mr. Bolyard in the front passenger seat. None were wearing seat belts.

There are several ways to make the 20-minute drive from Sharon to New Wilmington. Mr. Lane took a route over Courtney Road, a stretch of winding, uneven and unlit pavement that passes through woods in Findley Township.

"Lane was speeding and driving recklessly," Cpl. Powell quoted Mr. Cox as saying.

That was the last thing Mr. Cox remembered.

When he regained consciousness in the back seat of the wrecked car, he said Ms. Huling was there. She was yelling at him to move his legs and sit up, but he could not, he told police.

His two friends, who had emerged unhurt from the front seats of the car, weren't using their cell phones to dial 911 but insteadwere discussing how to cover up the accident, he told police.

Mr. Cox lapsed back into unconsciousness.

Mr. Lane lived at the time in the back of a building at the corner of North Market Street and West Neshannock Avenue, about 20 minutes from the crash scene. His apartment was on the left at the top of a staircase with 13 wooden steps.

When he regained consciousness again, Mr. Cox told police, it was morning and he was on the couch in Mr. Lane's apartment. Someone had carried him upstairs and changed his clothes. Mr. Lane and Mr. Bolyard were touching his lower body and asking him if he could feel anything; again, he could not, according to the police affidavit.

Mr. Cox told police Mr. Bolyard came up with the story about falling down the steps, and he pressed Mr. Cox to go along with it because Mr. Lane already was involved and was awaiting sentencing in another drunken-driving case in Butler County.

Four days before the crash, Butler County Common Pleas Judge William Shaffer found Mr. Lane guilty of two counts of driving under the influence -- including one count of DUI for a second time -- and traffic offenses after a nonjury trial, according to court documents. Those charges stemmed from a crash in Muddy Creek in 2008, according to the records.

"You need to understand, Bret," Mr. Cox quoted Mr. Bolyard as telling him. "Jason's life will be over because of this."

Mr. Bolyard also said Mr. Cox should think of himself, Mr. Cox told police.

"You're a teacher, Bret," he quoted Mr. Bolyard as saying. "Think how this will look for you."

All that he cared about, he told police, was that he was probably paralyzed and no one was calling for help. He said he agreed to go along with the story.

After Mr. Cox revised his account, police contacted Ms. Huling. Chief Piccirillo said investigators interviewed her and determined she had been called to the crash site by Mr. Lane.

Ms. Huling could not be reached for comment, but the chief described her as cooperative. Based on what she told investigators, the chief said they were able to find evidence of the crash, including skid marks, damaged trees and the wrecked car that had been hidden in a barn.

Mr. Cox, who was hospitalized for almost two months, suffered broken vertebrae with bone fragments around his spinal cord. Doctors have told him he is unlikely to walk again.

But months later, sitting in a wheelchair and back in his old classroom at Lakeview Middle School, he was in good spirits last week.

"I'm definitely an optimist, and God gives me a lot of faith, which has helped me from becoming depressed," he said. "I've been lucky, with my family, my friends, and the people here at the school. The kids. Everyone has been great."

The kids are the students Mr. Cox has spent the past three years teaching about civics and Pennsylvania history. At the time of his accident, he also was coaching the school's basketball team.

"I got hundreds and hundreds of cards from all the kids in all the classes," he said. "Fifth-graders will go by and say, 'Hi, Mr. Cox,' and I don't even know them yet."

He said he never doubted that he would return to teaching. Janitors have lowered his blackboards, but he uses an overhead projector for instruction most of the time.

"Don't get me wrong. It's a big transition," he said. "But we have great kids at Lakeview, and, actually, coming back to the school teaching the kids and working with the kids is not that big a transition. Because kids are kids, they get used to it and move on, and they're pretty much fine with it."

"He actually spent the last day of the last school year with our students and teachers for our field day," said David Blakley, principal at the school. "He was very easy to welcome back, and students just rallied behind him."

Mr. Blakley acknowledged that some people in the area might have expected a backlash against Mr. Cox because of the circumstances of the crash. But he said he has never heard comments that weren't supportive of Mr. Cox.

The most frustrating thing, Mr. Cox said, is dealing with physical obstacles and needing much more time to do things that used to be routine to him. But those problems, he said, are small.

Mr. Cox now lives in West Middlesex with his wife, Amy -- his fiancee before the accident.

"I'm newly married and I'm loving married life. I have the best wife in the world," he said. "I'm back doing what I love doing, teaching, and I look forward to many, many more years of it. And I look forward to having children and starting a family and moving on."

When he resumed teaching this year, Mr. Cox said he spent time discussing his paralysis with his students but not the circumstances of the crash itself.

"It was an unfortunate accident for everybody," said Mr. Cox, who said he has not spoken with Mr. Lane or Mr. Bolyard since he revised his statement to police.

"Some people made bad decisions that night. We all made bad decisions that night, some worse than others. And there's consequences involved for everybody.

"But I needed to tell the truth. It was difficult. But telling the truth was a relief."

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