MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Four Marion County Fire Rescue employees are facing charges in connection with what investigators described as a violent hazing incident involving a 19-year-old Marion County firefighter.
Edward Kenny III, 22, Seth Day, 22, and Tate Trauthwein, 19, were arrested Wednesday and charged with kidnapping, robbery and battery. Kaylee Bradley, 25, was also charged with robbery and principal/accessory to robbery.
Investigators said the other employees began hazing the victim, which he ignored as he continued his duties.
As the evening progressed, the actions escalated and became more violent, deputies said.
According to information shared at a news conference and in arrest affidavits, Trauthwein had spotted that the victim’s Instagram account had a lot of followers, and the victim explained that it was because of a TikTok dance video that went viral but was so embarrassing that he had removed it from his account.
WATCH: Press play below to watch a replay of the Marion County news conference announcing the arrests
When the others weren’t able to find the video online, Trauthwein threw the victim’s boots into the woods near the fire station, investigators said, and when the victim went to get them back, Kenny grabbed him from behind, and they both fell.
Investigators said Kenny and Day then held the victim down while Trauthwein removed the victim’s belt, and the victim’s pants were pulled down.
Trauthwein and Bradley took the victim’s phone and demanded his passcode, saying the group would leave him alone if he shared it, the report said.
When he refused, Trauthwein whipped him repeatedly with the belt while Kenny and Day continued to hold him down, according to deputies.
After several incorrect passcode attempts, the phone eventually locked, at which point Trauthwein pulled down the victim’s boxers and struck him with the belt on his bare backside, deputies said.
The victim was then dragged to another area where Kenny and Day held him down while Trauthwein covered his face with a towel and poured water over it, waterboarding the victim, investigators said. He told deputies it happened three times.
When a call for service came into the station, Trauthwein, Day, and Kenny released the victim, and when he asked for Day to give him back his phone, he did, calling him a derogatory term.
The victim also told investigators his attackers tried to get him not to “snitch” about the incident, but when MCFR supervision was made aware of the allegations, they contacted deputies to investigate.
When the victim was interviewed several days after the incident, deputies said, he still had visible marks from where he had been dragged and whipped with his own belt.