A U.S. Secret Service agent and two other men have been arrested and charged with violent felonies in Miami, Florida, in connection with alleged brutal beatings that occurred as part of a fraternity hazing ritual in April. The incidents left two individuals hospitalized with severe injuries.
Marquez Christopher Pinder, 29, who works in the Secret Service's Miami field office, is described in an arrest warrant as a "dean of pledges" for a Miami chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. The Secret Service has confirmed Pinder's employment and stated it is cooperating with investigators. Pinder has been placed on administrative leave and was released on a $75,000 bond. He faces arraignment on September 24.
The three men were charged after police uncovered evidence of "alleged hazing incidents involving prolonged and repeated beatings with canes and paddles," according to a news release from the Miami-Dade County state attorney's office. Court documents indicate that one victim, a University of Miami graduate student, and another young man sustained injuries that could have been fatal if not treated.
One victim required skin grafts to his backside and suffered kidney damage. The other victim had a tube placed in his windpipe to aid breathing. The charges filed against the three men include felony counts of hazing with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with great bodily harm, and attempted manslaughter.
"In Florida, hazing is abuse and it is a crime," Katherine Fernandez Rundle, state attorney for Miami-Dade County, said in a statement. "Its victims too often lie in their graves and in hospital beds."
According to Pinder's arrest warrant, the graduate student told police that he and another young man were beaten on their backsides by Pinder and the other defendants over four nights in early April at an apartment and a home off-campus. The assaults began when the victims failed to answer questions about the fraternity and its history correctly, a police investigator stated in the warrant. The beatings reportedly stopped when one victim had blood seeping through his pants. Fraternity leaders allegedly ordered both victims to dispose of their clothing before leaving.
One victim experienced vomiting, fevers, and intense pain before being hospitalized for treatment, including skin grafts on his buttocks and care for kidney damage. Police stated in the warrant that without emergency medical treatment, "his injuries would have resulted in renal failure leading to death."
The second victim, who knew the other from the fraternity, told police he denied being paddled but acknowledged receiving emergency medical care. His medical records showed hospitalization with injuries to his backside and he was intubated during his stay to prevent further physical deterioration and death, the arrest warrant said.
Florida law, enacted in 2005 and updated following the 2001 death of a University of Miami freshman who drowned during a fraternity-related incident, makes hazing a felony punishable by up to five years in prison if it results in serious injury or death.