Officials say a hazing incident at a Florida fire station escalated so violently that four Marion County Fire and Rescue employees lost their jobs and now find themselves arrested. Authorities say the alleged assault unfolded at Fire Station 21 in Ocala on Nov. 16, when the group—Edward Kenny III, 22; Seth Day, 22; Tate Trauthewein, 19; and Kaylee Bradley, 25—targeted their 19-year-old co-worker, who had been on the job for about a year, during a shift.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office describes the ordeal as escalating rapidly after the group tried to obtain a TikTok dance video that was on the victim's phone, per WCJB. WESH reports the victim initially tried to ignore his co-workers as they spread grease on him. But authorities and investigators say the group then took the victim's boots and phone, demanded his passcode, whipped him with a belt when he refused, pulled his pants and underpants down as he was held on the ground, and then waterboarded him three times using a towel and a water bottle. The incident ended only when a call for service came in, reports NBC News.
"A small group of employees treated the firehouse like a frat house," said county commissioner Carl Zalak. "The behavior is absolutely disgraceful, disrespectful, and it will simply not be tolerated." Kenny, Day, and Trauthewein face kidnapping, robbery, and battery charges, while Bradley is charged with robbery and principal/accessory to robbery. Fox35 reports the kidnapping charge is because they "allegedly dragg[ed] the victim across a parking lot, taking him from one place to another." The victim declined to take time off and remains on the job.
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