Yesterday the Utah Highway Patrol arrested a truck driver at the Utah-Arizona border following accusations of rape made by a female trainee in the summer of 2017. Trucker Arrested On Two Outstanding Warrants During Inspection. Utah troopers arrested 54 year old Texas-based truck driver Thorpe Steele at the I-15 port of entry inspection exit around 2:30 yesterday afternoon following a routine inspection.

Authorities nab trucker suspected of rape at Utah-Arizona port of entry Posted by St. George News | STGnews.com on Sunday, February 11, 2018

During the inspection, officers learned that Steele had two warrants out for his arrest and contacted the Utah Highway Patrol to complete the arrest on first degree felony charges of rape and sodomy. The charges against Steele stem from a report made to the West Valley City Police Department in October of 2017. The woman said that in July of 2017, Steele had sexually assaulted her at the CR England facility in Salt Lake County. “What Happens In The Truck Stays In The Truck” According to a probable cause statement from West Valley City Police, on July 3, Steele was showing the woman, who was his trainee, the inside of his truck. After reportedly telling the woman “What happens in the truck stays in the truck” and mentioning that he was armed with knives, the woman says Steele forced his hands into her pants, forced her to undress while telling her that “no was not an option” and then sexually assaulted her in the sleeper berth. Steele later told police that the sex was consensual. Following the arrest, Steele was booked into the Purgatory Correctional Facility near St. George, Utah, where he is being held on a $200,000 bond.