Father on cocaine attempted to kill two-year-old son in 75mph car crash

A Colorado man has admitted that he deliberately crashed his car to try to kill his two-year-old son. Nathan Weitzel unbuckled the toddler's seatbelt and drove the car at 75mph into a stationery vehicle.

The child, named Isaiah, has suffered a broken leg and a concussion but he is expected to recover. He has a neck brace and stitches on his head and also a cast on his lower body, which he will have for the next two months.

Weitzel, the 29-year-old father, said he tried to kill his son because he could not take the pressure and responsibility of fatherhood. He has been charged with attempt of first-degree murder, assault, child abuse, criminal mischief, vehicular assault and possession of a controlled substance and was jailed on $50,000 (£38,172) bail.

Weitzel told investigators that he had taken his son to a park in Centennial, a Denver suburb on 21 August, before the crash and thought of ways to kill his son. The police said, after leaving the park, "he drove around looking for a good place to crash the car" and crashed it into a parked car outside a home at around 11am. He also tried to slit his own throat with a smashed glass, when the firefighters tried to free him from the wreck, New York Daily Post reported.

Weitzel admitted to the use of cocaine on the day of the crash. He wilfully neglected to put the child in his car seat and also told the Arapahoe county police officers that he wanted to kill his son "because being a father was a big responsibility and he did not think he was man enough to raise a child."

Nancy Lopez, Isaiah's mother and Weitzel live separately and the child spends weekends with his father. On the afternoon of the accident, the child was supposed go back to his mother's home. Lopez speaking to KUSA, said: "He needs to be in jail for a long time."