A Denver Lyft driver is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting or trying to sexually assault 10 girls he picked up for paid rides — and authorities imagine there could also be extra unidentified victims.
Investigators allege John Edgar Pastor-Mendoza, 41, kidnapped a minimum of 10 girls between 2018 and July 2022, based on an affidavit filed towards him.
He's charged with 41 felony counts, together with 10 counts of kidnapping, 12 counts of sexual assault, 18 counts of tried sexual assault, and a single theft cost.
Pastor-Mendoza focused closely intoxicated girls who sought Uber and Lyft rides dwelling from nightclubs and bars in Denver, based on the affidavit. The ladies reported blacking out and waking both in his automobile or at his dwelling to understand they’d been sexually assaulted.
A Lyft consultant confirmed in a press release Wednesday that Pastor-Mendoza was a driver for the ride-share firm and that Lyft is cooperating with regulation enforcement.
“The habits described is totally appalling, and the motive force has been completely faraway from the Lyft neighborhood,” the assertion stated.
Navideh Forghani, communications supervisor for Uber, stated Wednesday that Pastor-Mendoza has by no means been an Uber driver.
Investigators linked Pastor-Mendoza to the assaults by witnesses and DNA. A search of his dwelling turned up 18 cellphones, some belonging to recognized victims, based on the affidavit.
The alleged assaults occurred, based on the district lawyer’s workplace, after the ladies had been picked up from the next places:
- Sept. 16, 2018 — The Matchbox, 2625 Larimer St.
- Dec. 29-30, 2018 — Beta Nightclub, 1909 Blake St.
- March 9, 2019 — LoDo space
- March 17, 2019 — LoDo’s Bar and Grill, 1946 Market St,
- July 27, 2019 — Neon Child, 1942 Market St.
- Aug. 15, 2021 – The Irish Rover Pub, 54 S. Broadway
- Sept. 23, 2021– Speer Boulevard and thirteenth Road
- March 4, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
- Could 13-14, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
- July 8-9, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
The primary lady who reported an assault stated she was ingesting in Decrease Downtown with associates in September 2018 when she was separated from her associates. She took a ride-share, blacked out, and wakened in a mattress in an unfamiliar house whereas a person she didn't know was touching her, based on the affidavit. She couldn't discover her underwear, and her ATM card and cellphone had been lacking from her purse, based on the affidavit. She walked out of the house and alerted authorities later that day.
One other lady reported an assault in July 2019. She stated she’d ordered an Uber after an evening of ingesting in LoDo. The trip was canceled on the Uber app. She then blacked out and wakened in a wierd home, the place a person informed her he’d discovered her in an alley and introduced her to his dwelling “to maintain her protected,” based on the affidavit. She couldn't discover her cellphone or underwear and realized the following day she’d been sexually assaulted. The person gave her a trip dwelling when she wakened, based on the affidavit.
One other sufferer reported blacking out and waking whereas a person was having intercourse together with her behind a ride-share car in March 2022. She suffered accidents and believed she struggled towards the assault. She informed police she blacked out once more and got here to as the person dropped her off at her buddy’s home in Denver.
All three girls described the person as Hispanic and in his late 30s or early 40s.
Forghani, the Uber spokeswoman, stated riders ought to you'll want to match the motive force and car that arrives to the one listed within the Uber app earlier than accepting the trip.
“We need to remind riders to examine their trip by ensuring the car make and mannequin, license plate and driver photograph match what's within the app earlier than getting in,” she stated in an electronic mail.
The three instances had been linked by DNA in July, based on the affidavit, at the same time as extra girls reported assaults. As soon as detectives acknowledged the sample, they requested employees at Tracks Nightclub to be looking out for ride-share drivers who matched the ladies’s descriptions of the suspect.
A tipster then gave police a photograph of Pastor-Mendoza contained in the membership and a photograph of his car and driver’s license. Investigators offered a photograph lineup to a sufferer, who picked out Pastor-Mendoza as the person who assaulted her, based on the affidavit.
Investigators searched his dwelling in August and located 18 cellphones, and a financial institution card that traced again to a lady who reported her Uber driver tried to sexually assault her in Could 2022. Additionally they discovered cellphones belonging to different victims.
Pastor-Mendoza was initially charged Aug. 29, and the grievance towards him was amended Friday. He's subsequent due in court docket Nov. 4.
Denver police ask anybody who believes they might have been assaulted by Pastor-Mendoza to name 720-913-2000.