Florida fire and rescue employees arrested after ‘violent hazing incident,' officials say

Four Marion County Fire and Rescue employees were arrested in connection with a “violent hazing incident” that included allegedly waterboarding a 19-year-old co-worker, the county’s sheriff’s office said in a news release.

“A small group of employees treated the firehouse like a frat house,” Marion County commissioner Carl Zalak said Wednesday. “The behavior is absolutely disgraceful, disrespectful, and it will simply not be tolerated.”

On Wednesday, detectives from the office’s major crimes division arrested Edward Kenny III, 22; Seth Day, 22; and Tate Trauthewein, 19, on charges of kidnapping, robbery and battery, the sheriff’s office said in the release.

Kaylee Bradley, 25, was also arrested on charges of robbery and principal/accessory to robbery, according to the release.

All four have been fired from their jobs, Fire Chief James Banta said at a news conference Wednesday.

The four employees began hazing the victim while he was working at Fire Station 21 in Ocala, Florida, on November 16, the sheriff’s office release said.

At first, the victim ignored the advances as he continued his work. But as the night went on, the other employees continued hazing the victim, their actions turning violent, the sheriff’s office said.

Sheriff Billy Woods said at a news conference Wednesday that the incident began when the employees smeared grease on the victim, and later wanted a TikTok video that was on his phone. They first chased him through the parking lot, the sheriff’s office said.

Trauthwein then allegedly threw the victim’s boots into the nearby woods. When the victim went to retrieve his boots, Kenny grabbed him from behind, pushing them both to the ground. Kenny and Day pinned the victim down while Trauthwein took off the victim’s belt and pulled down his pants, the sheriff’s office said.

Trauthwein and Bradley then took the victim’s phone and demanded he give them his password to unlock it. When he refused, Trauthwein whipped him with his own belt as Kenny and Day held him down, the sheriff’s office said.

After numerous failed attempted to open the phone, it eventually locked, the release said, apparently prompting Trauthwein to pull down the victim’s underwear and hit him again with the belt on his bare skin, according to the sheriff’s office.

The victim was then dragged to another area where Kenny and Day continued to hold him down while Trauthwein covered his face with a towel and poured water over it, “waterboarding the victim,” the sheriff’s office said. The suspects waterboarded the victim three times, Woods said, using a water bottle.

The perpetrators only stopped harassing the victim when a call for service came into the station.

The sheriff’s office said fire and rescue supervision contacted them when they became aware of the allegations. Following the sheriff’s office’s investigation, the suspects were arrested.

Banta added that the fire department is reviewing the sheriff’s office’s investigation, “which may include the actions or inactions of others who may have been aware and or present during this incident,” he said.

The suspects were taken to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Jail. They are are awaiting their first appearance in court.

The victim has been working in the job for about a year, Woods said. He has refused to take time off following the incident and has returned to his post, insisting he “has a job to do.”