Dad to deputy: "I tried to kill my son"

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. -- A father pulled from the wreckage of a crash told deputies he crashed his car to try and "kill my son."

The crash, which happened at 11:05 a.m. on Sunday, August 21 on Eudora Way, led witnesses to call police. 

One witness who called 911 told dispatchers that an adult in the crashed car was "hitting the child in the vehicle," according to the arrest warrant obtained by Denver7.

By the time deputies arrived, bystanders had rescued the child.

Deputies said they said two nearby adults holding a small child "with a large head laceration on the forehead that was heavily bleeding," the arrest warrant said. "He was crying and appeared to be fading, going in and out consciousness."

Firefighters with Littleton Fire department told deputies that when they tried to remove the driver, 29-year-old Nathan Weitzel, from the vehicle, "he removed a piece of glass from his facial area and attempted to slit his own throat."

"When one of the firefighters, Reice O'Keefe, was removing him [Weitzel] from the vehicle, Reice grabbed onto Nathan's right hand to stop him from slitting his own throat. Nathan with his left hand, balled up his fist and punched Reice on the chin," the arrest warrant said.

When a deputy interviewed Weitzel at the hospital, the deputy said he asked Weitzel how the crash happened.

"He spontaneously uttered, 'Because I tried to kill my son,'" the arrest warrant said.

The deputy said he didn't ask any follow up questions and notified his supervisor.

When a second investigator questioned Weitzel and asked if he was trying to avoid hitting something, Weitzel replied, "I was trying to kill my son," the arrest warrant said.

Weitzel went on to the tell the investigator that he took his son to play in the park and while his son played, Weitzel said "he sat in the park and thought of a way to kill his son," according to the arrest warrant.

Weitzel said he did not buckle his child in the car seat, then "he drove around looking for a good place to crash the car and kill his son," the warrant said. "Nathan said the reason he wanted to kill [his son] was because being a father was a big responsibility and he did not think he was man enough to raise a child."

Weitzel told investigators his son was really good kid.

The boy was found with a broken leg, a concussion and need several stitches on his forehead, investigators said.

Weitzel was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. During his police interview, Weiztel said he used cocaine before the crash.

Weitzel is also facing charges of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injuries, second-degree assault, criminal mischief and vehicular assault. He is facing up to 48 years in prison if he is convicted on the attempted murder charge alone.