Man accused of dropping boy from Daytona Beach hotel balcony

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A 31-year-old man was accused of dropping a boy from the second-floor balcony of a hotel Saturday evening, the Daytona Beach Police Department said.

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Police said they were called shortly after 7:45 p.m. to the Sandlewood Resort after Brandon Gilmore dropped the boy from a second-floor balcony.

Investigators said Gilmore told them he met the child’s mother five hours earlier, and that the pair had discussed getting a piercing later that day.

Police said Gilmore arrived at the resort and after talking with the boy’s mother, he told her that he would take the boy outside to play with him to “scare him a little bit.”

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He told investigators that he went outside the hotel room and held the boy by his legs directly above the second-floor balcony

A witness said that she saw the boy dangling by his feet before the man dropped him from the balcony head first, a police report said.

Investigators said a surveillance camera recorded the incident.

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Police said the boy was taken to Halifax Hospital Medical Center under a trauma alert status.

Gilmore was booked into the Volusia County Jail on charges of aggravated child abuse.

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