A 31-year-old man was arrested on Saturday after allegedly dropping a 4-year-old off the second floor of a Daytona Beach resort, according to an affidavit from the police department.
The man, identified as Brandon Gilmore, is now facing a felony charge of aggravated child abuse.
According to records from the Daytona Beach Police Department, Gilmore met the mother of the toddler approximately five hours before the incident, which happened just before 8 p.m.
The man says he told the mother he was taking the child outside to play and "scare him a little bit," then proceeded to hold the child upside down by his legs over the balcony.
Witnesses say Gilmore then dropped the toddler head-first, letting him fall two stories to the ground. Gilmore told officers he held the child over the balcony but did not expand further on his involvement, the affidavit says.
Officers say they were able to access video surveillance footage that captured the incident. According to the affidavit, the video shows Gilmore exiting a hotel room holding the child normally in his arms before holding him over the balcony by one leg.
The surveillance footage then shows Gilmore dropping the child head first, the affidavit says.
The child was rushed to hospital as a trauma alert based on the seriousness of the fall. According to police, the child suffered blunt force trauma to his head, but his current condition was not immediately made available.
The Department of Children and Families took a report of the incident, according to the affidavit.