Chesterton Man Accused of Brutally Attacking His Father with a Wrench During Boat Outing
A violent domestic incident unfolded on the waters of Burns Ditch when a man allegedly assaulted his father with a wrench while the two were boating, according to a probable cause affidavit.
On the morning of Thursday, June 19, 2025, Indiana Conservation Officers were contacted by Portage Police regarding a possible domestic situation after a blood covered man was found sitting near the railroad at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Trail. The man, later identified as 20-year-old Nicholas Floyd Frazier of Chesterton, told officers he had fallen off a boat and could not recall anything else.
Simultaneously, police learned from a 10:16 a.m. call made to the Lake Station Police Department that Frazier had allegedly attacked his 47-year-old father on their boat with a socket wrench. The father was located at his Lake Station home and was suffering from head and arm injuries. He told officers that his son had attacked him during what was intended to be a peaceful father son outing.
According to the father’s account, his son had recently been released from a mental health facility and had been acting erratically. He had hoped a boating trip might help. However, the trip turned violent when the younger Frazier allegedly grabbed a wrench, concealed it in his pocket, and then struck his father multiple times while they were navigating back from the lake.
“He clubbed me so hard, it drove me into the [seat],” the father told investigators. “He was trying to kill me right on that seat.”
Officers located the suspected vessel, a blood-covered 1996 Crownline boat, docked at Doyne’s Marina in Portage. A bloodied socket wrench was found in the center of the boat, and significant amounts of blood were documented on various parts of the deck and seats. Surveillance footage from Marina Shores showed a boat matching the description traveling through Burns Ditch toward Lake Michigan around 8:58 a.m., then returning south at 9:32 a.m. consistent with the timeline of the reported assault.
The family also reported prior incidents in which Frazier had displayed concerning behavior, including previous threats that required police intervention.
The father told officers he managed to fend off his son and both men ended up in the water before he was able to climb back into the boat and escape.
Nicholas Floyd Frazier has since been charged in connection with the attack. Frazier faces charges of:
Aggravated Battery – posing a substantial risk of death – Level 3 Felony
Battery by Means of a Deadly Weapon – Level 5 Felony
