Father of boy with injured spleen arrested

A Carson City father was in custody Thursday for allegedly injuring his 2-year-old son to the extent that the boy suffered a lacerated spleen.

Dale Nathan Walters, 44, a laborer, was arrested at 9:26 p.m. in the 2500 block of Kelvin Road on a felony warrant charging child abuse.

According to police records, Walter's 2-year-old son, Jacob, was complaining of pain after allegedly falling onto a metal toy truck at his father's house on Dec. 17. When the boy's mother took him to Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, a CAT scan revealed a laceration to his spleen. He was transported by helicopter to a Reno hospital for care.

Detective Craig Lowe said in his report that the doctors found the injury inconsistent with the explanation.

When he questioned Walters, the father allegedly repeated the toy truck story. According to Lowe, when Walters was told the injury couldn't have happened within a couple of hours because blood from the injury appeared old in the CAT scan, Walters allegedly changed his story.

He then told investigators that three weeks prior he had thrown a miniature rubber basketball at Jacob after he hit his brother on the head with a metal toy, Lowe said.

Walter's allegedly described the throw as "hard," and that it hit Jacob in the stomach causing the boy to hold his stomach and cry.

Lowe also noted that family members recalled that two weeks prior to Jacob's hospital trip, the boy said, "Daddy kicked me."

A warrant for Walters' arrest was issued Wednesday.

His bail is set at $25,000.

Jacob did not require surgery, but may eventually have to have his spleen removed, the report states.