Three veteran MCFR supervisors ousted in Station 21 scandal; attorneys allege flawed investigation

File photo: Marion County Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Robert Graff speaks during a meeting with the Marion County Board of County Commissioners and the Marion County Professional Firefighters Local #3169 at the Ocala Public Library Headquarters in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, Nov. 17, 2025- the day the victim got off his shift at station 21. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.

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Posted December 31, 2025 | By Jennifer Hunt Murty
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Three Marion County Fire Rescue supervisors with decades of combined service have lost their jobs as the fallout continues following the alleged violent hazing of a firefighter by colleagues at the county’s busiest fire station in November.

While Battalion Chief Charles Balik, Capt. Victor Payette and Lt. Frederick Bowers have all lost their positions, at least two are claiming unfair treatment by Marion County officials. Payette and Bowers have filed grievances with MCFR and County Administrator Mounir Bouyounes. If their grievances are not resolved at this level, they can go before an arbitrator under the terms of the firefighters’ union’s collective bargaining agreement.

Balik resigned in lieu of being fired. Payette and Bowers declined to resign, maintaining they have been truthful with investigators about the incident and its aftermath. Both were then fired without the opportunity to question their accusers or to present exculpatory evidence.

The actions stem from the Nov. 16 incident when four workers at Station 21 allegedly assaulted and terrorized a 19-year-old employee who had been with MCFR for five months. The four have been fired and arrested on charges including kidnapping, battery and robbery.

County official said the MCFR supervisors have been dismissed because of their alleged failure to properly report and handle the situation according to department policy.

The ousters have pitted the county’s claims against charges of dereliction of duty against the two supervisors’ claims that they have been denied key information necessary for them to prepare a defense and that the county’s administrative investigative process leading to their dismissal was fatally flawed.

The case has also sparked questions about the culture within the MCFR as several firefighters have indicated that this may not be an isolated incident, as Chief James Banta has suggested in press conferences.

The county provided the “Gazette” recorded statements of the MCSO interviews and termination meetings of all the employees on Dec. 19, five days after they announced the conclusion of the investigations. The following account is based on a “Gazette” review of approximately 20 hours of audio as well as other relevant public records obtained.

Allegations regarding the incident

The four MCFR workers who have been arrested in connection with the incident are paramedic Kaylee K. Bradley, 25, charged with felony robbery and principal/accessory to robbery. Firefighter/EMT Tate Trauthwein, 19; EMT Edward Kenny III, 22; and firefighter/EMT Seth Day, 22, a firefighter/EMT, have all been charged with felony robbery.

The arrest affidavit states the victim was working at the station as a “floater” to fill a vacancy when a series of minor disputes led to the victim being held down while he was beaten with his own belt and had his cellphone and other belongings taken.

The allegations include felony kidnapping for confining the victim, misdemeanor battery, and causing bodily harm by whipping him with a belt and waterboarding him using a towel and dripping water onto it.

The victim recounted that he called out during the altercation for the lieutenant and was told by his assailants that, “He’s not here to save you.”

The victim told detectives the incident happened outside sometime between 9:30 and 10 p.m. and he believed that both Payette and Bowers were asleep inside the station at the time.

The incident came to light the day after the victim got off shift when the victim mentioned to a fellow firefighter assigned to Station 12, Michael Gatto, what had occurred in a telephone conversation around 8 p.m. on Nov. 18. Gatto said he would share the information at his station after he “slept on it.”

Gatto told detectives that he reported the incident that the victim described through his Station 12 chain of command and it seems, based on text messages reviewed by the “Gazette,” that senior fire officials outside of Station 21 became aware of the incident the morning of Nov. 19.

In the interview Gatto gave detectives at MCSO, he said “razzing” is an accepted part of the fire department culture. Speaking of the victim, Gatto told the detectives, “He knows like everyone has razzed on him just because that’s what the fire department is. Everyone razz on the new guys.”

But this incident, Gatto acknowledged the firehouse antics went way too far.

20-year battalion chief resigned in lieu of termination

The county’s report was unequivocal concerning Balik’s role, noting “the deliberate withholding of material information during an active criminal investigation constitutes conduct unbecoming and dishonesty as defined by departmental standards.”

Balik, how who served as a Battalion Chief over multiple stations, including 21, maintained during his interview with county officials that he found out about the incident on the same day he was alerted that county and MCFR leaders would be descending upon the station to investigate the incident. Balik said he thought it was best that he not launch his own investigation at that time, because he had concerns about navigating the firefighter bill of rights contained in the collective bargaining agreement with the firefighters’ union.

19-year captain fired

The county listed several aggravating factors in its decision to terminate Payette, who had only months earlier been promoted to captain. These included possessing early knowledge of a serious assault, directing the deletion of evidence, providing inconsistent accounts to command staff and law enforcement, and ultimately impairing both the administrative and criminal investigations. Payette denied the allegations and accompanied by attorney Erica Hay at a Dec. 17 “termination meeting” with Deputy MCFR Chief Robert Graff and Assistant County Administrator Amanda Tart.

During the meeting, Hay asked: “Can you just clarify what this meeting is because (Payette) has never been interviewed that I’m aware of, and county policy and past practice is that when there’s a full administrative investigation conducted …, normally the captain or the firefighter is questioned during the investigation, but here that did not happen with him.”

Tart responded, “This is a pre-termination hearing… The investigation is concluded.”

Tart decided to fire the supervisors based on Graff’s recommendation and after listening to statements Payette gave to law enforcement on Nov. 21 and 24, before Sheriff Billy Woods’ press conference on Nov. 26 about the incident.

In that statement, Payette told a detective, “I’m literally walking around completely in the blind here.” He asked the detectives if they could share the details of what happened because his recollection of Nov. 16 (the date of the alleged incident) was that it was a normal day and recalled spending most of it greasing fire trucks at the station.

Hay pointed out that Payette had not been told who made the accusations against him. “There’s like a little bit of a step missing,” she said.

Tart disagreed and said the investigation was concluded without the need to interview Payette, adding that the investigators relied only on the statements given by others to law enforcement.

11-year lieutenant fired

Bowers, an 11-year MCFR veteran who had recently been promoted to lieutenant, was covering a shift for another lieutenant at Station 21 on Nov. 16 so he wasn’t working with his usual crew. The county charged him with observing harassment and violence and failing to report it. According to his administrative investigation, this failure violated his “affirmative duty to immediately report credible information.” The county concluded that he failed to exercise sound judgment by disengaging from a serious incident.

Bowers attended his termination meetings on Dec. 18 and 19 with attorney Jennifer Seymour, who also questioned the way the investigation was conducted.

“I have serious concerns that the procedures are not being followed completely here… not having the benefit of being able to see any of those statements and not having witnessed it [the incident] makes it very hard for him to be able to provide any information to you guys, especially noting the quick turnaround. We got the letter less than two days ago,” Seymour told Graff and Tart.

Seymour added, “I believe that there has been some problems in this investigation that we’d like to clear up… but we need to see those statements and considering that they exist, you guys have them, we’re just asking for an opportunity to review them.”

Bowers gave a statement about his fire service accomplishments, adding that he had no knowledge of the incident while it was happening and only learned of it third hand after MCFR management had initiated action.

Like Payette, Bowers was not given the opportunity to address the accusers or to provide evidence on his behalf.

“I have serious concerns with the validity of this investigation if it has led you to the conclusion to fire and terminate this officer. I don’t believe that’s appropriate,” Seymour told the county representatives. Any judgment, she added, “should be based on real facts instead of just being swept up and being blamed for things.”

Tart stated that the internal investigation was not yet closed and then dismissed the procedural objection, stating, “You’re welcome to get the public records from the sheriff’s office. I understand that you won’t have them for this meeting. But I don’t know that you need to have them for this meeting.”

During Bowers’ interview with Marion County Sheriff’s Office detectives, he recounts receiving notice of his suspension and recourse under the firefighters bill of rights without any explanation of what was being investigated. Bowers says he asked MCFR Division Chief Joshua Alvarez and Graff if he needed a union representative while they spoke with him about the incident. He said they told him, “Not now.”

Bowers had the detectives to his home and answered questions the day after the suspension. He said MCSO Detective Jason Williams assured him, “You’re not in any trouble with us… We’re just trying to understand what happened.”

A timeline of rumors and hearsay

On Nov. 19, between 7 and 8 p.m., Graff notified Balik, Payette and Bowers that they were under investigation along with everyone else who worked the shift on Nov. 16 when the incident happened. Graff confirmed he did not tell them the nature of the investigation and told them they were not allowed to talk to anyone in the department except for senior staff and law enforcement.

The timeline of communication among the various MCFR officials, however, remains murky.

Balik said Bowers called him on the evening of Nov. 19 shortly before Graff notified them of the investigation. “(Bowers) wanted to know if the cops were at (Station) 21 today,” Balik said. He told Bowers there had been no police at the station.

Balik, however, had only been at Station 21 for part of the day due to an internet outage at his own station.

Payette claims he fulfilled his duty by reporting to Balkin on Nov. 19 what he knew, which was second-hand information that there was an incident being investigated.

During Balik’s interview, Graff asked about a “group text” that happened on Nov. 19 hours before he notified the supervisors of the investigation. Balik said, “I don’t even know if he was in the group chat.”

In response to a request by the “Gazette” to view the group text, Graff replied that he did not have it.

Graff refused to provide the “Gazette” with details of the timeline of when any of the supervisors of Station 21 who were subsequently terminated learned of the incident, responding instead with, “It doesn’t matter when they learned of it.”

Inconsistent consequences

Firefighter Michael Horton, who has been with MCFR two years, refused to answer questions from MCSO. He did admit later to MCFR that he had witnessed the hazing event. He remains employed by MCFR.

Two firefighters told detectives they did not participate in the attack but that they, too,  witnessed the incident. All three were dismissed by the county based on their statements to law enforcement. They are: John Tweedy, a 22-year veteran and Tyler Touchton, who has served for four years.

Tweedy said during his recorded termination meeting he told the alleged assailants to stop the attack but did not physically intercede. Union representatives at the hearing expressed concern that the county would have wanted him to get into a physical altercation.

Quintin Gaines, a nine-year veteran, chose resignation in lieu of termination. Gaines stated he witnessed the crew members “wrestling” and “rolling around on the ground” with the victim while he was sitting nearby using his phone. He characterized this behavior as “nothing that didn’t seem like out of the norm” and “typical stuff” for the fire station. Gaines claimed he went to bed around 9:00 PM or 9:30 PM and did not witness the escalation to waterboarding or the use of a belt. He stated he had “no idea… the severity of it” until law enforcement arrived.

A culture of “normalized” misconduct

The investigation into the Nov. 16 incident is shedding light on other troubling behaviors at MCFR.

Station 21, the busiest fire station in Marion County, has had its share of struggles. The prior captain had been moved to a new station just a few months before the Nov. 16 incident for poor performance related in part to a faulty communication style cited by Balik.

Kaylee Bradley, one of the firefighters arrested for participating in the attack, told investigators  that the EMT who was allegedly assaulted on Nov. 16 “was there when Tate Trauthwein was waterboarded” just a week prior. Trauthwein, who has also been charged in the attack, told authorities, “fire service-wise, at least from what I’ve seen, that’s not like a crazy thing to happen.”

The firefighters who did not participate in the Nov. 16 incident but observed it without intervening said that this behavior was “normal.”

Gaines, who was recently honored at the county’s Medal Day, told Graff and Tart in his recorded termination meeting, “In the last over nine years I’ve been here, this was learned behavior that I’ve just seen throughout the fire department in the entire time. I started here at 19, and it’s what I grew up in. It’s how I was treated. It’s how I’ve always seen others treated.”

In response to a “Gazette” request for details about how violence at fire stations is usually handled, MCFR leadership scoffed at the notion that it has happened historically and refused to elaborate on how it’s been handled. However, the “Gazette” will be making more public records requests and will be publishing follow up reporting on our findings.

None of the people interviewed by MCSO accused Payette, Balik or Bowers of participating in or condoning what happened at Station 21 on Nov. 16.

Bowers and Payette only acknowledged hearing and seeing the usual verbal banter between crew members. Bowers confirmed that “shit-talking [is] going on in the fire department. I mean, that’s normal shit.”

Graff, citing concerns that providing additional information could be used against them while navigating the grievances that had been filed by the captain and lieutenant, refused to provide answers to the “Gazette” about how the agency conducted its investigation.