The Brief
- A 19-year-old rookie firefighter says he was violently hazed by colleagues at Marion County Fire Rescue Station 21 over access to his cell phone.
- Investigators say the alleged abuse included restraint, whipping with a belt and waterboarding during his second shift.
- Ten employees were fired, and four firefighters and paramedics now face criminal charges as the investigation continues.
ORLANDO, Fla. – A 19-year-old rookie firefighter at Marion County Fire Rescue’s Fire Station 21 described to detectives the horror he underwent as his colleagues allegedly tackled him, put him into a leg lock, whipped him with a belt, and waterboarded him – all over the desire to gain access to his cell phone to watch a viral video he posted a while back on social media.
FOX 35 has obtained the investigative interviews, transcripts, and other documents at the center of Fire Station 21’s hazing scandal. Ten people were fired from Station 21 – the Battalion Chief, a captain, a lieutenant, firefighters, and paramedics – and four have been criminally charged.
The 19-year-old firefighter told detectives with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office that it was his second-ever shift working at Fire Station 21.…