A former DeKalb County emergency medical services driver will spend the next two decades in prison for raping a woman in her car in 2023, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Bruce Andre Hines, 47, was convicted Friday and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Following his release, he will be required to register as a sex offender and spend the rest of his life on probation, the DeKalb District Attorney’s Office said.
The 51-year-old victim woke up March 5, 2023, to Hines sexually assaulting her at an apartment complex on Glenwood Road, according to the DA’s office.
Prosecutors said the victim had fallen asleep in her car following a night out with friends. She said she was awakened in the early morning hours by an EMS driver, later identified as Hines, who stated that a call came in to police about a person sleeping in a car. He told her he canceled that call so she wouldn’t go to jail, according to the DA’s office.
Hines, who arrived in an emergency SUV, moved both vehicles to an abandoned parking lot and got into her car, prosecutors said.
“The victim, who had fallen back asleep, woke up to Hines assaulting her,” the DA’s office said.
Prosecutors said Hines then took the victim’s phone and called one of her friends to say that she was not in a safe area to leave her car. They met at a QuikTrip on Covington Highway, and the friend dropped Hines back off at his SUV.
But after Hines got out of the friend’s car, the DA’s office said the victim “made an immediate outcry about the assault to her friend” and called police to report the incident.
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Surveillance footage captured Hines’ SUV arriving at 3 a.m. alongside several emergency vehicles at a nearby hotel. He left about 30 minutes later and pulled up next to the victim’s car across the street. He then walked to her door and drove both vehicles to an abandoned parking lot next to the apartment complex, the footage showed.
Hines said he would take the woman to a safe location, an officer said in a recording of police radio traffic obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“He spends several minutes with the victim in the lot,” the DA’s office said.
Prosecutors said the ambulance team that responded to the hotel identified Hines as the driver of the SUV, and his DNA was found on the victim’s clothes. At the time, a spokesman for Stone Mountain-based ambulance operator American Medical Response said Hines was an employee there and had been placed on administrative leave.
During interviews with police, Hines admitted to sexually assaulting the woman and knew she was inebriated after leaving a nightclub, Channel 2 Action News reported.
He was taken into custody shortly after the incident. In his booking photo, Hines was seen wearing a pullover labeling him as an EMS worker.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
