Indictment: 5 Navy seamen charged in San Marcos gang rape

SAN ANTONIO – Five Navy seamen arrested at Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland on Friday night are accused in a gang rape that occurred last year, indictments released Monday revealed.

Dominick Burns, 20, Anthony Cooney, 21, Kenneth Johnson, 20, Mauricio Chaparro, 28, and Kyle Tuschmann, 19, were taken into custody by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office around 6:20 p.m. Friday.

Each was indicted on four counts of aggravated sexual assault with bail totaling $500,000 each.

The indictment states the men acted "in concert" to sexually assault a woman on May 19, 2018.

According to an incident report, police were dispatched to Rio Vista Park around 10 p.m. after receiving a report of six people sexually assaulting a woman in the back of a truck. The victim was initially disinterested in pressing charges but went to the police department the next day to pursue charges, the report states.

Tuschmann, Cooney and Burns are each accused of physically taking part in the sexual assault. Chaparro and Johnson are listed in the indictment, but their role in the sexual assault is not described in the indictment or incident report.

The sixth person's name was redacted from the incident report. It's unclear if another arrest is forthcoming.

San Marcos police Chief Chase Stapp said the department investigated the case last May and sent it to the Hays County District Attorney's Office for review.

Records show the men were all indicted April 24 and subsequently arrested in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base on Friday. 

Cmdr. James Stockman, a spokesman for Naval Education and Training Command, said Tuesday that the Navy is cooperating with local authorities.

"Master-at-Arms Seaman Anthony Cooney, Master-at-Arms Seaman Mauricio Chaparro, Master- at-Arms Seaman Apprentice Dominick Burns, Master-at-Arms Seaman Apprentice Kenneth Johnson and Master-at-Arms Seaman Apprentice Kyle Tuschmann were turned over to local law enforcement Friday, May 17, on charges of aggravated sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident that occurred May 19, 2018. At the time of the incident, the Sailors were students at Naval Technical Training Center at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. The Navy is cooperating with local authorities in the investigation. Since this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot provide any further details," Stockman said.

Stapp said their arrests are not tied to the arrest of Tyshane Thomas, who was suspected of committing three sexual assaults in San Marcos throughout the months of April and May.