Florida sheriff angrily rips into 'moron' teen who terrorized 9-year-old girl for a prank

Pasco County, Florida Sheriff Chris Nocco angrily denounced a teenager who 'terrorized' a nine-year-old girl while dressed up like an Anime character in a prank recorded by his friend.

“We got 18-year-olds that are leaving to go off to college," the sheriff said in a press conference to reporters, "18-year-olds starting their careers, 18-year-olds sacrificing their lives, going overseas to defend our liberty and what America stands for. Then you got this moron standing out there creating a Japanese anime whatever its called."

Drew Bretnall chased the nine-year-old as she walked home from school while his friend recorded the prank on his cell phone and posted it to Snapchat, a popular social media app.

“They scared this little girl to death," the sheriff said. "She thought there was clear and imminent danger to herself. They scared her to death."

Nocco says he's working with the State Attorney's Office to charge the teen with misdemeanor assault charges.

Bretnall's family called the charges "ridiculous" and said that they have a lawyer to defend the teen in what the teens said was just a joke. Bretnall told police that he was just trying to replicate a scene from Anime, a genre of Japanese comic books and cartoons.

The teens could be seen chasing the nine-year-old girl in surveillance video captured from homes in the area of the incident.