Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper faces charges for allegedly sexually assaulting truck driver
An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper was fired on May 22 and faces felony charges after he allegedly sexually assaulted a female truck driver during a March traffic stop.
By Evan Onstot
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OKLAHOMA (KOCO) — An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper was fired Wednesday and faces felony charges after he allegedly sexually assaulted a female truck driver during a March traffic stop.
The crime was only uncovered because a supervisor reviewed the dash camera video and saw some unusual behavior. Investigators said Jackie Lee Rhinehart tried to hide what he was doing by repositioning his patrol car in the middle of the traffic stop, so that the dash camera could not see him approach the vehicle.
Documents also said Rhinehart was wearing a body camera for at least some of the interaction, and he repeatedly pointed at it to his alleged victim, whispering, “Camera.” Investigators said they believe this encouraged her not to say anything incriminating.
The trooper pulled the 58-year-old woman over for speeding on the Will Rogers Turnpike in Craig County just after midnight on March 7. Investigators noted the woman spoke broken English, and Spanish was her primary language.
OHP said Rhinehart’s supervisor discovered this while doing a routine check of dash camera video, noticing the highly unusual interactions. That’s when they decided to find the woman driving the truck that night, and she told them what happened.
OHP interviewed the woman weeks later, and she told them that the trooper almost immediately gestured to her that he wanted them to go into the sleeper section of the tractor-trailer. He persisted throughout the traffic stop, pushing himself against her and eventually getting her in the back area, where he forced her into a sexual act.
The woman told investigators she considered calling 911 and even tried to record it on her phone, but she was too afraid.
“As soon as we discovered the potential for criminal or unethical behavior, our agency took swift action. Rhinehart’s behavior is deplorable and has no place within the organization,” Tim Tipton, the commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, said.
Tipton said Rhinehart was fired for his behavior.
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