Police in Cancun, Mexico, say Spencer Vanweerd was being chased by officers when he jumped into a lagoon and was attacked by a crocodile.
Vanweerd denies the account.The man's story of an encounter with the reptile has been widely reported in Utah.Vanweerd, 19, a Weber State University student from Clearfield, returned home Tuesday after being treated for injuries he said he suffered late Friday night when he was swimming in the lagoon while on spring break.
He said the six-foot reptile clamped onto his head and shoulders, but he managed to work free, badly cutting his arms and hands in the process. In previous interviews, he said he remembered learning from a television show that the animals have little strength opening their jaws, so he wrapped his arms around the reptile's mouth to keep it closed and struggled to shore.
He said the crocodile came after him until it saw other people.
KSL-TV said Thursday night that it had talked with Cancun police and received a faxed police report of the incident, which said Vanweerd was being chased by police after witnesses reported seeing beer being stolen from a store and that is when he jumped into the lagoon.
Vanweerd told KSL, "The police are all crooked down there."
His mother, Natascha Vanweerd, told the station that police fabricated their report because her son made them look bad when he told a Cancun TV station that officers weren't helping him but were laughing when they saw him get out of the water.