A Florida man was arrested over the weekend after authorities said he dangled and dropped a child headfirst off a second-story hotel balcony in Daytona Beach.
Authorities with the Daytona Beach Police Department said Brandon Gilmore, 31, is facing an aggravated child abuse charge after the incident that happened on Saturday afternoon at the Sandlewood Resort.
According to the arrest affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital, police were alerted to a trauma situation at the Sandlewood Resort on Saturday afternoon.
Gilmore told police he met a woman at a hotel pool five hours prior to the incident.
Brandon Gilmore was arrested on July 6, 2024, and charged with aggravated child abuse. (Volusia County Jail)
According to the arrest affidavit, Gilmore said the woman invited him to her room where he asked for permission to take her son outside to play with him and «scare him a little bit.»
Gilmore then went outside the hotel room and held the boy by his legs and dangled him over the balcony, police said.
Witnesses verified that the child was dangled and that they heard the child screaming before he was dropped, headfirst, from the two-story balcony, the arrest affidavit stated.
Both Gilmore and the woman had been drinking all day at the pool, according to the report.
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A Volusia County sign is shown near a beach in Florida. (JESUS OLARTE/AFP via Getty Images)
Video surveillance also captured the incident, verifying witness statements and Gilmore’s account, police said.
«The child is doing fine and has been discharged from the hospital and is not expected to have any long-term health issues as a result of this tragic event,» an officer with the Daytona Police Department said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The affidavit did not reveal the child’s age.
Gilmore remains in custody at the Volusia County Jail without bond, according to online jail records.
