Agreed. But the police say they don't know either, yet he claims he CAN point it out. I have to assume he hasn't yet done so.
I don't know what happened, and yesterday the idea that he faked it seemed preposterous to me. But the police comment that they don't know, coupled with his "can but won't" language just screams "fishy."
I think you're confusing tow things. The discrepancy is that he talked with the police at the hospital, when he called them from the scene. That could be as easy to explain as 'I'm going to the hospital; meet me there.
The other problem is he doesn't know which of two adjacent section roads the incident happened on. If he's not real familiar with the area, that could happen. He said that before, he was driving around, trying to get his throughts straight before; and after, he was probably dazed. If I were going to fake something like this, I'd have a confederate give me a few bruises; then we'd both drive to the spot, him in a pickup to leave the right tire tracks; then I'd head off to the hospital; and my story would be rehearsed.
I'd credit the theory that he got beat up for some other reason, and decided to add the details about ID; or that while the thugs were laying into him, one said "ain't you the egghead prof on the news?" but I don't believe the incident was a premeditated fake.