EMS Worker Sentenced In Rape Of Sleeping Woman In Car: Prosecutor

DECATUR, GA — An emergency medical services worker convicted of raping a woman he claimed fell asleep inside her car has been sentenced to prison, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston's office said Tuesday.

A jury on Friday found Bruce Andre Hines, 47, of College Park, guilty of rape in connection with the sexual assault of a 51-year-old woman on March 5, 2023, prosecutors said.

Authorities were notified after the woman called 911, telling them she had been raped by an EMS driver between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. inside her car in the 4000 block of Glenwood Road, prosecutors said.

The woman fell asleep in the car after an evening out with friends, prosecutors said. The driver, who was later identified as Hines, awakened her, prosecutors said.

Hines told the woman someone called police to report a person asleep in a car, but he said he canceled the call so she would not be arrested, prosecutors said.

He then moved both her car and his emergency SUV to an abandoned parking lot, where he got into the car with the woman, prosecutors said. The woman had fallen asleep again and awakened to Hines assaulting her, prosecutors said.

After the assault, prosecutors said Hines used the woman's phone to call her friend to tell them her car was not in a safe area to be left.

The friend then met with Hines and the woman at a Covington Highway gas station and took Hines back to his SUV, prosecutors said. Once Hines was out of the car, prosecutors said the woman "made an immediate outcry about the assault to her friend and called police to report the crime."

Surveillance video showed several emergency vehicles, including Hines' SUV, arriving at an incident at Glenwood around 3 a.m. Thirty minutes later, the SUV left a nearby hotel and pulled alongside the woman's car, prosecutors said.

"The video shows the driver of the SUV approach the driver’s side window of the car on foot, then drive both vehicles to an abandoned parking lot next to the apartment complex. He spends several minutes with the victim in the lot," prosecutors said.

An ambulance team identified Hines as the SUV's driver, and DNA was collected from the woman's clothing, prosecutors said.

DeKalb County Superior Court Senior Judge Daniel Coursey sentenced Hines to 25 years to serve in prison, prosecutors said. Once released, Hines will be required to spend the remainder of his life on probation and register as a sex offender.