A Florida man was arrested for allegedly dropping a four-year-old boy from a hotel balcony just hours after meeting his mother and offering to “scare him a little bit,” according to police.
Brandon Gilmore, 31, was taken into custody on Saturday after he reportedly dangled the child off a second-story balcony at the Sandalwood Resort in Daytona Beach.
Gilmore told police he met the boy’s mother five hours before the incident and had been drinking by the pool all day, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com.
The woman supposedly invited Gilmore to her room as they planned to get a piercing later that day. Gilmore then said he was going to take the boy outside to play and “scare him a little bit,” he told police.
According to the police report, Gilmore went outside and dangled the boy by his legs over the balcony. Witnesses said they heard the boy screaming before he was dropped headfirst.
Dasanni Bentley told WESH: “He was just like swinging in, playing with them… And then he let him go, and he had him by one foot. And then the kid slipped right out of him and fell directly on his head on the concrete, no grass.”
The boy’s mother, who has not been named by police, reportedly picked up the boy and took him back to the room. Police arrived at the scene and the boy was taken to Halifax Medical Center. He has since been discharged and was not seriously injured, authorities said.
Police were able to obtain security footage that they say shows Gilmore dropping the boy over the balcony. The affidavit reads: “Officers observed Gilbert carrying the child to the balcony and holding the child by one leg, with his head positioned to the ground, then proceeding to drop him from the second floor balcony.”
Gilmore is charged with felony aggravated child abuse and remains in jail without bail. He has previously been arrested for marijuana possession and for driving with a suspended license, according to public records.
Daily MailOnline
