Miami police said surveillance video has revealed that a man who was hospitalized, telling police he was attacked by a group of men, was injured when he fell off his skateboard and was never beaten up.
Rene Betancourt Jr., 22, was released from Jackson Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, more than a week after the July 7 incident that left him with a fractured skull, a broken nose, a damaged eye and several missing teeth.
WATCH: Surveillance video
Betancourt had told investigators he went to downtown Miami about 1 a.m. July 7 to meet up with a group of skateboarders he had heard about online, and a group of men severely beat him. His family told police that Betancourt lost consciousness and did not call 911, but he woke up about 11:30 a.m. and tried to drive himself to Jackson Memorial Hospital. He did not make it, but relatives were able to get a hold of Betancourt and take him to the hospital.
On Friday, Miami police said they reviewed surveillance video from an office building near Northwest 12th Avenue and 14th Street. Investigators said it shows Betancourt fall down while skateboarding, and then getting on the building's elevator.
The video shows Betancourt crash into a wall in the parking garage, slamming his head, then fall hard onto the ground, face-first. He lay there for about five minutes before making his way to an elevator, and video there showed him bent over in pain, police said.
Investigators said the kind of impact seen in the video is consistent with Betancourt's injuries, which they initially thought were the result of a beating.
Miami police said detectives believe Betancourt was injured in an accident and was never beaten.
Kenia Reyes, of the Miami Police Department, said there were inconsistencies in Betancourt's story from the beginning. She said police are not accusing Betancourt of lying, but that he may have been confused after the crash.
Reyes said the case is not closed yet and that investigators have not ruled anything out.