Man who tackled streaker at Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp game speaks out

A man accused of streaking at the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp baseball game Thursday night is now charged with lewd and lascivious conduct for exposing himself to children.

Video shows a man believed to be Dante Koonce getting tackled shortly after taking the field.

20-year-old Koonce appeared to have tweeted about possibly streaking during the game Thursday night.

Action News Jax Courtney Cole spoke exclusively to the man who made the tackle.

He said he did it to protect his 5-year-old and 15-month-old daughters who were with him at the game.

If you press ‘play’ you’ll see the shocking video of a man caught streaking at a Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp baseball game on Thursday night.

We blurred the video, but many fans say they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"You know, it was funny until he started heading toward me and my little girls.”

That’s when Will said he knew he had to step in and stop the man.

He’s the man you see in the red hat in this video.

He asked to be identified by first name only.

You can see him tackle the man the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said was 20-year-old Dante Koonce.

"I saw that the security guards...couldn’t...wouldn’t do anything. So that’s when I decided to stop him,” Will told Action News Jax.

According to this arrest report from JSO, Koonce jumped over the right field wall with boxers on, but by the time he reached center field--he removed them.

As you can see in the video, he tried to jump the center field wall, but didn’t make it.

That's when he headed toward Will, exposing himself to several children.

“When I tackled him, I just, I was like, ‘Sorry man, you know I had to stop you because you we’re coming toward me and my little girls and he said, ‘that’s okay.’“

Will said Koonce was cooperative and only asked for the chance to put his underwear back on before police arrived.

Will told me this incident will not discourage him from returning to Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp games in the future.

Koonce bonded out of jail on Friday evening.

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Media Relations also sent this statement to Action News Jax Courtney Cole in response to the incident:

“The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, in order to provide a safe environment for fans and players alike, strictly enforce a zero-tolerance policy regarding field invasion. Any attendee that enters the field uninvited is immediately removed from the stadium and put in custody of our JSO officers that are on site every game. The Jumbo Shrimp, in cooperation with JSO, enforce all laws including, but not limited to, trespassing when such incidents occur.”

Cox Media Group