Police say man stabbed himself in the back

A 63-year-old man who told authorities he was stabbed in the back by an intruder late on Tuesday actually stabbed himself, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday. Eric Ackerman told deputies on Tuesday that he went outside his home with a handgun to investigate a noise, when someone stabbed him and ran. Ackerman said he fired at the suspect, whom he only described as a white man.

Deputies had previously been called to Ackerman’s North 66th Street home on another report that he’d been stabbed by a prowler, that time in the arm, sheriff’s Cmdr. Rick Brough said. That report, on Sept. 30, came three days after Ackerman reported that someone broke into his garage and slashed all four of his car’s tires.

Ackerman admitted he had stabbed himself both times after investigators determined physical evidence from Tuesday’s incident didn’t support his story, Brough said. For example, he said, there were no footprints where Ackerman claimed the intruder had been.

The Sheriff’s Office is consulting with the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether to file criminal charges against Ackerman for false reporting to authorities or prohibited use of a weapon, Brough said. “They have to look at his mental state and criminal culpability,” Brough said.