JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The man caught on video pushing his 6-year-old stepson down a 13-foot ramp at Kona Skate Park will not face criminal charges, the State Attorney's Office announced Thursday.
WJXT-TV reports the state attorney declined to issue an arrest warrant for Marcus Crossland, 27, who made national headlines when the video of the April incident went viral.
Crossland appeared on NBC's "The Today Show" this month and said he was trying to help his stepson, nicknamed "Dino the Dinosaur," overcome his fear of the ramp, known as Big Brown.
According to the affidavit released by the State Attorney's Office, the Department of Children and Family Services recommended anger control and parenting skills classes, both of which Crossland completed. The affidavit said Crossland was cooperative with the investigation and remorseful, and the boy's mother did not want prosecution.
"Critical in this analysis is the fact that the push was not done out of anger or rage," the State Attorney's Office said. "The victim states that he was pushed because his dad wanted to teach him to not be afraid of the ramp. … Additionally, the push caught on video was not the first time this behavior occurred and the child remained apparently compliant with the training."
Because Crossland had already completed the conditions of a pretrial diversion referral, the State Attorney's Office decided to take no further action in the case.
Attorney Gene Nichols, who is not related to the case, said the State Attorney's Office could potentially re-investigate the incident if anything were to happen again.
"There is a time period that they could potentially bring charges again, (but) I seriously doubt that will happen," Nichols said. "But if DCF does get back involved in this child's life again, you can expect them to take further measures to make sure this child is safe. And if there is another incident you can expect the State Attorney's Office will investigate that separately."
The family told "The Today Show" Crossland had lost his job because of incident and they plan to move.