Authorities: Man threw toddler, beat him with bat

TAMPA -- On the evening of Feb. 21, a 2-year-old boy suffered head and eye injuries, including massive swelling. Authorities determined that Christopher Todd Pullie, 23, was the only adult watching him at the time of the incident.

According to the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office, Pullie said that while playing, he threw the boy in the air and the boy's head hit the blade of a fan, after which he fell and hit his head again -- this time on a coffee table.

In addition, the boy said Pullie hit him on the head with a bat: a foam T-ball bat with a hard plastic core.
Pullie, of 4115 Chatham Oak St., in the Carrollwood area, was charged with child neglect and aggravated child abuse. He was held Thursday in lieu of $32,500 bail.

Thomas Lake, Times staff writer