Coal Hollow Fire crew inmate accused of raping base camp worker

SANPETE COUNTY, Utah -- (KSTU) -- An Idaho prison inmate on a work crew for the Coal Hollow Fire is in jail in Utah, accused of raping a woman at the fire base camp in Indianola.

A woman reported on August 29 that an inmate who was part of a work crew on the fire cornered her in a wash trailer. The victim told a Sanpete County Sheriff's Office deputy, "she was running a wash trailer for the fire base camp and that over the last week this man had been flirting with her."

That inmate, 27-year-old Ruben Hernandez, showed up to the trailer around 10 a.m. Wednesday, exposed himself and asked the victim to perform a lewd act on him, then raped the woman.

"She did not scream or stop him because she knew he was a prisoner and did not want to get hurt by the prisoner," the court document reads.

The victim was taken to the Sanpete Valley Hospital for an examination, while deputies arrested and booked Hernandez into the Sanpete County Jail on a charge of rape. According to the Idaho Department of Corrections, Hernandez is serving a prison sentence in Idaho for delivery of a controlled substance. His prison term is set to end in 2023.