© Fox DFW
The firemen were arrested Monday on accusations that they used a sausage to sexually assault a man at the station in January, officials said. A woman is also accused of recording the deed on a cellphone.
The alleged attack occurred Jan. 20 at the Emergency Service District 6 Volunteer Fire Department in Waxahachie, Texas Rangers spokesman Lonny Haschel said. The victim reported the incident to authorities last week.
Officials at the 26-member department did not respond to requests seeking comment.
Five men were charged with aggravated sexual assault in the case: Keith Edward Wisakowsky, 26; Casey Joe Stafford, 30; Preston Thomas Peyrot, 19; Alec Chase Miller, 28; and Blake Jerold Tucker, 19.
Brittany Leanne Parten, 23, was also arrested and charged with improper photography or visual recording.
In the recording, the men could be heard "yelling and laughing with excitement" as the victim was held down and bent over a couch. They first tried to use a broomstick, court records say, but then one of them had another idea.
"I have something better," the unidentified suspect said, and Wisakowsky retrieved a chorizo sausage from the station's refrigerator, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
The Texas Rangers, who are leading the investigation, would not confirm Tuesday that the crime involved hazing, but Ellis County District Attorney Patrick Wilson said it appears to be the result of a "rite of initiation" for the victim.
Wilson said the attack "appears to be what many people would call hazing." But the firefighters cannot be arrested on a hazing charge because that statute applies only to high school students.
The charges have not yet been filed with the district attorney's office.
Court records portray a series of obscene acts allegedly committed by the men arrested, all caught on tape. The victim was bent over a couch and held down by the participants, the records say.
Afterward, the man crawled into a nearby bathroom and threw up. He then tried to clean up in a shower, but someone took his clothes from the bathroom.
When the victim went to look for his clothes, the affidavit states, Tucker took his towel and forced him to cover up with his hands. The victim ran outside the building to get a pair of shorts from his car.
Wisakowsky is a lieutenant in the department and has volunteered there since 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Miller was named Officer of the Year last year, according to the fire department's Facebook page. The lieutenant told investigators he regretted his actions, the affidavit states.
By Tuesday evening, five of those arrested had been released from the Ellis County Jail. Stafford remained in jail with bail set at $75,000.
Haschel said the Texas Rangers and the Ellis County district attorney's office are still investigating the assault.
Comment: Hazing exists beyond high school and college. It is most prominent in male-dominated institutions, which a volunteer fire department would definitely fall under. The fact that it exists at all is a testament to the institutionalization of psychopathy. It has trickled down so far into society that acts such as this can even be considered and then acted upon.