‘Absolutely Unacceptable’: 10 Florida First Responders Fired, Four 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…

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