A Secret Service agent assigned to the Miami office was arrested this Sunday along with two other men for allegedly beating fraternity pledges with sticks and paddles in a series of hazing incidents that left victims hospitalized in South Florida.
The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office confirmed that the officer identified as Marquez Christopher Pinder, 29 years old, was arrested along with Jared Lamar James, 26, and Elijah Delano Dyous, 29, according to a report from El Nuevo Herald.
The three are facing charges of attempted involuntary homicide with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury, and hazing with a deadly weapon.
The investigation revealed that the incidents began on January 1, 2026, in an apartment in Sweetwater, Florida, and continued until April 4 in that same area and in a residence in the unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County.
Las golpizas consistían en sesiones prolongadas y repetidas de golpes con bastones y remos a personas que no respondían correctamente a preguntas sobre la fraternidad, presuntamente vinculada a Kappa Alpha Psi, una fraternidad afroamericana, según una fuente cercana al caso citada por el diario Miami Herald.
One of the victims, a law student at the University of Miami, suffered acute kidney damage, vomiting, fever, severe pain, and required extensive skin grafts. Court documents indicate that they could have died without immediate medical attention. Another victim is reported to be an employee of the Miami-Dade Fire Department.
The Secret Service confirmed in a statement that one of its employees is being investigated by a local law enforcement agency and has been placed on administrative leave since the situation was reported to the agency. Pinder's attorney claimed that his client had been placed on that leave approximately a month before the formal arrest.
This case adds to previous incidents that have tarnished the image of the Secret Service in South Florida. Last May, another agent from the same agency was arrested in Miami for indecent exposure in a hotel.
The state attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle took the opportunity to warn about the dangers of hazing in the state, reminding that since 2001, it has led to the deaths of three people in Florida: Chad Meredith in that year, Robert Champion in 2011, and Andrew Coffey in 2017.
"This case, involving victims who require hospitalization, provides clear examples of the dangers of hazing. In Florida, hazing is abuse and it is a crime. Too often, its victims lie in their graves and in hospital beds," declared Fernández Rundle.
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