'Violent' Firefighter Hazing Included Leg Lock, Waterboarding: Police
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖A 19-year-old fire recruit was subjected to a violent hazing incident at Marian County's Fire Station 21, including being pinned down, whipped with a belt, and waterboarded.
- ❖Four firefighters—Kaylee Bradley, Tate Troutwine, Edward Kenny, and Seth Day—were arrested and charged with felonies including kidnapping, robbery, and battery.
- ❖Ten fire department employees, including Captain Victor Payet and Battalion Chief Clint Balac, were terminated or resigned due to their involvement or failure to report the incident and attempts to destroy evidence.
- ❖Suspects claimed the victim was laughing and that hazing was a common 'culture' at Station 21, with some admitting similar acts had happened to them.
- ❖Despite the trauma, the victim chose to return to work, stating his commitment to his firefighting career.
- ❖Leadership was found to have known about the incident, directed the deletion of photos/videos, and omitted critical information to law enforcement.
Insights
1Escalation of Hazing to Criminal Acts
What started with wiping grease on a recruit and throwing his gear escalated into a violent assault. The victim was pinned down, whipped with a belt, had his pants pulled down, was dragged across concrete, and ultimately waterboarded. This progression demonstrates how 'roughhousing' can quickly become criminal behavior when unchecked.
The victim's account details being wiped with grease (), gear thrown (), phone taken (), pinned down (), whipped with a belt (), pants pulled down (), dragged (), and waterboarded (). Charges include kidnapping, robbery, and battery (, ).
2Culture of Hazing and Normalization of Abuse
Multiple suspects, including Tate Troutwine and Kaye Bradley, indicated that hazing, or 'roughhousing,' was a regular occurrence and part of the established culture at Fire Station 21. Tate explicitly stated, 'that's the culture I've been shown' and that similar things had happened to him, suggesting a systemic issue rather than isolated acts.
Kaye Bradley stated, 'this is something that happens like every day' and 'they're just messing around' (, ). Tate Troutwine said, 'that's the kind of behavior that like like stuff like that's happened to me before' and 'that's the culture I've been shown' (, ). Kaye also revealed seeing Tate waterboarded a week prior ().
3Leadership Failure and Cover-Up Attempts
Station leadership, specifically Captain Victor Payet and Battalion Chief Clint Balac, were aware of the severe hazing incident but failed to report it immediately. Instead, they engaged in informal handling, directed the deletion of evidence (photos/videos), and provided misleading information to law enforcement, actively participating in a cover-up.
Investigative reports state Captain Payet became aware of the incident on November 19th, did not initiate formal reporting, directed at least one member to delete evidence, and omitted material information to law enforcement (). Battalion Chief Balac was also 'let go' (). Kaye Bradley confirmed supervisors told her to delete videos/photos ().
4Conflicting Accounts and Denial of Severity
While the victim detailed severe physical and psychological abuse, the suspects offered conflicting narratives, often downplaying the severity. They denied full removal of clothing or significant waterboarding, framing the events as 'playing around' or 'jokes,' despite the victim's clear distress and injuries.
The victim explicitly stated his pants and boxers were pulled down (, ). Suspects Seth, Kenny, and Tate denied underwear was removed (, , ). Tate claimed the waterboarding was a 'joke' and no water was poured (, ), contradicting the victim's account of not being able to breathe ().
Lessons
- Implement and rigorously enforce a zero-tolerance policy for hazing, clearly defining prohibited behaviors and the severe consequences for violations.
- Establish confidential and easily accessible reporting mechanisms for hazing incidents, ensuring victims and witnesses feel safe to come forward without fear of retaliation.
- Provide comprehensive anti-hazing training for all personnel, emphasizing the difference between team-building and abuse, and educating on bystander intervention and leadership responsibilities.
- Mandate regular, independent audits of station culture and leadership practices to identify and address potential hazing environments before they escalate.
- Hold leadership accountable for failing to report incidents, destroying evidence, or fostering a culture where hazing is normalized, ensuring that consequences extend beyond direct perpetrators.
Quotes
"The waterboarding thing, I'm sure. What are you guys trying to get at?"
"We are talking allegations about co-workers allegedly pinning someone to the ground, taking property, pulling pants down in front of others, and even allegations of water boarding. That's right, a torture technique reportedly happening at a fire station in the Ocala area."
"He's like, 'You don't look dirty enough.' So wiped it on me."
"And then once they unbuttoned my pants and pulled them down then I was like trying to actually like fight and get out."
"He asked me why I didn't just give him the passcode. He said like I didn't have to go through that if I'd given him a passcode."
"They were like Lieutenant Bowers wants to talk to you. He's like we just want to make sure you're okay from what happened yesterday and that you're you're not like hurt or anything and you you don't want to like snitch on us."
"But like I want to like like preface it for me like this is something that happens like every day like like they're just messing around."
"I agree what we did got out of hand with 100% of hand but the whole time he was laughing and me roughing all day like back and forth wrestling we wrestled earlier and got up and laughed about it and yeah like no issue all day like that."
"I've been held down by four guys in the station. I've had my pants pulled down in the same instance."
"Kenny sees take get waterboarded a week ago and then I think that he thought that it would be funny to like bring it out and then Seth actually like put the towel on his face."
"Captain Payet directed at least one member to delete photographs or video related to the incident, which resulted in permanent loss of evidence."
"Their actions, now the subject of serious felony charges, represent a disturbing violation of everything that this profession stands for."
"In my 30 years as a firefighter, um this is the most egregious thing that I've seen been reported to me."
"I have a job to do and I need to do that job."
Q&A
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