‘Absolutely Unacceptable’: 10 Florida First Responders Charged After 19-Year-Old Whipped with His Own Belt and Waterboarded Outside Fire Station
Four Florida firefighters have been charged, and their colleagues were fired, after a 19-year-old firefighter reported that he was kidnapped, beaten, and waterboarded, all because his co-workers tried to gain access to his phone. The violent hazing happened at Marion County Fire Rescue's Station 21, where 10 employees were fired, including a battalion chief, captain, lieutenant, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics. Four of those employees were criminally charged. Investigative interviews, transcripts, and video footage, obtained by WOFL, reveal how the harassment unfolded and an attempted cover-up that followed. The 19-year-old told detectives the hazing incident took place at the station on Nov. 16. During his second shift, he said his colleagues smeared grease on his T-shirt, threw his belongings into some nearby woods, then dragged him outside, where they proceeded to remove his pants, whip him with his own belt, then restrain him in a leglock while demanding access to his cellphone to see a TikTok video. "I was like, ‘Ow, ow.’ I'm like, ‘This really hurts.’ I was like ‘Stop! Stop!’ and was like, 'What's the passcode? What's the passcode?'" the victim told detectives. The Marion County Sheriff's Office also said the victim's underwear was removed during the ordeal. The 19-year-old also told deputies he was waterboarded three times with a towel and made it clear he thought this went beyond the pale of a minor offense. The four first responders involved in the incident were arrested on Nov. 26. Kaylee Bradley, a 25-year-old paramedic, was charged with robbery and principal accessory to robbery. Tate Trauthwein, a 19-year-old firefighter/EMT, 22-year-old EMT Edward Kenny, and 22-year-old Seth Day, another firefighter/EMT, were all charged with kidnapping, battery, and robbery. The kidnapping charges stem from a portion of the incident when the 19-year-old victim was dragged across the parking lot from the fire station. Some of the firefighters were charged with robbery for taking the victim's phone. In interviews with detectives, the individuals who were charged said that roughhousing is commonplace at the fire station, but Bradley said she thought the waterboarding was too much. “I just feel like that went way too far,” Kaylee Bradley told detectives. “That’s past what they normally do as a joke.” Bradley also confessed that one of the fire captains directed her to delete any photos or videos capturing the incident. He was fired, along with a battalion chief, who didn't report the incident immediately to his superiors. A now-fired lieutenant reportedly saw the incident but failed to intervene. It's unclear whether these employees will face charges. "What occurred is absolutely unacceptable ... it makes me sick to my very stomach," Marion County Commissioner Mark Zalak III said. "A small group of employees treated the firehouse like a frat house." The 19-year-old did indicate that he wanted to leave the fire station, but he remains an employee with Marion County Fire Rescue. He has been working with the agency for a year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vUMIjpEoA3P4
