Florida authorities say a man was charged with child abuse for allegedly allowing his 8-year-old son to drive and the child nearly struck two pedestrians.

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Mark Belanger, 34, was arrested just before midnight Sunday in Bradenton and charged with child abuse and permitting an unlicensed driver to drive, The Bradenton Herald reported Thursday.

Witnesses said the young driver nearly struck two pedestrians, coaches with a Toronto Major League Soccer club team, before crashing into two trees, shattering the rear driver's side window of the van and damaging the vehicle's radiator.

Belanger told investigators he allowed the boy to drive because he was "feeling woozy and didn't want to drive" and "because he wanted to have a bonding moment with his son."

Police said the boy told them his father took "liquid medicine in order to feel better" and gestured toward an empty bottle of Canadian whiskey inside the van. The police report said Belanger resisted arrest and attempted to kick out the windows of the patrol car before he was subdued with pepper spray.

Belanger was jailed in lieu of $10,120 bond.