Secret Service employee charged with attempted manslaughter in alleged fraternity hazing incident
The incident involved a non-university alumni fraternity, authorities said.
A U.S. Secret Service employee is under "total lockdown" house arrest on Tuesday after being charged in Florida with attempted manslaughter, stemming from an alleged non-university hazing incident involving membership in a fraternity alumni group, authorities said.
Secret Service employee Marquez Christopher Pinder, 29, was arrested on Monday along with co-defendants Lamar James, 26, and Elijah Delano Dyous, 29, according to Florida State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.
Pinder was described by prosecutors as the "dean of pledges," according to an arrest warrant filed in the case and reviewed by ABC News.
One of the hazing victims is a University of Miami Law School student, prosecutors said.
But in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, the University of Miami said Pinder is not affiliated with the school.
"Other than the fact that one of the victims is a University of Miami School of Law student, this incident has nothing to do with the University of Miami or the University of Miami chapter of the fraternity," the university's statement said.
The three men, according to Rundle, allegedly used canes and paddles to beat two Kappa Alpha Psi alumni fraternity pledges over the course of four days in early April at two locations in Miami-Dade County.
Rundle said one of the victims, the law school student, was beaten so severely he suffered kidney failure and had to undergo surgery.
"This case, with the victims requiring hospitalization, provide clear-cut examples of hazing's danger," Rundle said in a statement. "In Florida, hazing is abuse and it is a crime. Its victims too often lie in their graves and in hospitals."
Prosecutors identified the second victim as a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue employee, who needed critical medical care following the alleged hazing incident.
Besides attempted manslaughter, Pinder, James and Dyous are also charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and causing great bodily harm, and hazing with a deadly weapon. All of the charges are felonies.
None of the defendants have yet entered pleas to the charges.
Michael Townsend, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service Miami Field Office, confirmed in a statement to ABC News that Pinder is a Secret Service employee.
Pinder has been placed on administrative leave, according to Townsend. It's unclear if he is on paid or unpaid leave.
"The United States Secret Service takes seriously any criminal misconduct allegations involving one of our employees," Townsend said. "As the Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Office, I have been informed that a local law enforcement agency is investigating one of our employees. We are fully cooperating with the investigation."
Townsend said he was unable to comment on the details of the ongoing investigation.
The alleged hazing unfolded on April 1 at an apartment in Sweetwater, an unincorporated community near Miami, and continued there through April 2 and 3, according to Rundle.
Rundle said the alleged hazing involving the same victims shifted to another location in Miami on April 4.
The alleged abuse occurred in sessions that lasted for several hours, according to the arrest warrant.
In one instance, the two victims were allegedly asked questions about the fraternity's history, according to the arrest warrant. When they failed to give correct answers, they were instructed to do a half squat with one arm pointed forward while they were "struck repeatedly” on their buttocks, the report alleges, according to arrest warrant.
In a separate alleged hazing session, the victims were beaten so severely that they bled through their clothes, the warrant said.
In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, the grand chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi said its Richmond-Perrine, Florida, alumni chapter reported the hazing incident. The organization said the incident allegedly involved "grown adult (postgraduate) persons and membership in an alumni (non-university) chapter."
"The arrested perpetrators in this specific incident are not active or financial members of Kappa Alpha Psi. They do not have an official affiliation with any chapter nor any official role with the organization," the fraternity said. "Likewise, they do not have any authority to conduct any program or authorize any process on our behalf."
The fraternity said it is fully cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation.
Jimmy McMikle, the national president of Kappa Alpha Psi, condemned the alleged hazing incident, saying in a statement that the fraternity maintains a "zero-tolerance policy on hazing."
"Hazing is illegal, strictly prohibited and is never a condition of membership," McMikle said. "We neither condone nor tolerate acts of hazing behavior within our organization or from our membership."
During a hearing on Monday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Judge Mindy S. Glazer approved a $75,000 bond Pinder posted. As part of the conditions of Pinder's release, Glazer granted a request from prosecutors to place him on house arrest and "total lockdown."
Glazer also ordered Pinder to wear a GPS device and to have no contact with the victims.
Pinder's attorney, Justin Beckham, told Glazer that he and his client agreed to the bond conditions, saying, "We believe they're in his best interest at this time."
The attorney made no other statements about the case in court.
Beckham could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
It was unclear on Tuesday if the other two defendants, Dyous and James, have hired attorneys. James was initially held on $75,000 bond on Tuesday at the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to online jail records. He posted bond and was placed under house arrest, the arrest warrant notes.
Jail information on Dyous was not available.
ABC News' Benjamin Stein, Luke Barr and Jessica Gorman contributed to this report.
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