An Ellis County, Texas, grand jury indicted seven volunteer firefighters, including the department’s chief and assistant chief, on Wednesday in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a fellow male firefighter with a chorizo sausage in January. Investigators allege the assault was part of an initiation ritual. Five were indicted on charges of aggravated sexual assault and attempted aggravated sexual assault. The chiefs were charged with tampering with witnesses, a first-degree felony.
The girlfriend of one of the charged volunteers is accused of making a video recording of the attack, reports the San Antonio Express-News. The five men allegedly bent the unidentified victim over a couch, pinned him face down and attempted to assault him with a broomstick before one of them thought of using the sausage, according to the Waxahachie Daily Light. The victim crawled to a bathroom and threw up after the assault, the paper reported.