A Denver Lyft driver is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting or attempting to sexually assault 10 women he picked up for paid rides -- and authorities believe there may be additional unidentified victims.
A Denver Lyft driver is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting or attempting to sexually assault 10 women he picked up for paid rides — and authorities believe there may be additional unidentified victims.
Investigators allege John Edgar Pastor-Mendoza, 41, kidnapped at least 10 women between 2018 and July 2022, according to an affidavit filed against him.
He is charged with 41 felony counts, including 10 counts of kidnapping, 12 counts of sexual assault, 18 counts of attempted sexual assault, and a single robbery charge.
Pastor-Mendoza targeted heavily intoxicated women who sought Uber and Lyft rides home from nightclubs and bars in Denver, according to the affidavit. The women reported blacking out and waking either in his car or at his home to realize they’d been sexually assaulted.
A Lyft representative confirmed in a statement Wednesday that Pastor-Mendoza was a driver for the ride-share company and that Lyft is cooperating with law enforcement.
“The behavior described is absolutely appalling, and the driver has been permanently removed from the Lyft community,” the statement said.
Navideh Forghani, communications manager for Uber, said Wednesday that Pastor-Mendoza has never been an Uber driver.
Investigators linked Pastor-Mendoza to the assaults through witnesses and DNA. A search of his home turned up 18 cellphones, some belonging to identified victims, according to the affidavit.
The alleged assaults happened, according to the district attorney’s office, after the women were picked up from the following locations:
The first woman who reported an assault said she was drinking in Lower Downtown with friends in September 2018 when she was separated from her friends. She took a ride-share, blacked out, and woke up in a bed in an unfamiliar apartment while a man she did not know was touching her, according to the affidavit. She could not find her underwear, and her ATM card and phone were missing from her purse, according to the affidavit. She walked out of the apartment and alerted authorities later that day.
Another woman reported an assault in July 2019. She said she’d ordered an Uber after a night of drinking in LoDo. The ride was canceled on the Uber app. She then blacked out and woke up in a strange house, where a man told her he’d found her in an alley and brought her to his home “to keep her safe,” according to the affidavit. She could not find her cellphone or underwear and realized the next day she’d been sexually assaulted. The man gave her a ride home when she woke up, according to the affidavit.
Another victim reported blacking out and waking while a man was having sex with her in the back of a ride-share vehicle in March 2022. She suffered injuries and believed she struggled against the assault. She told police she blacked out again and came to as the man dropped her off at her friend’s house in Denver.
All three women described the man as Hispanic and in his late 30s or early 40s.
Forghani, the Uber spokeswoman, said riders should be sure to match the driver and vehicle that arrives to the one listed in the Uber app before accepting the ride.
“We want to remind riders to check their ride by making sure the vehicle make and model, license plate and driver photo match what is in the app before getting in,” she said in an email.
The three cases were linked by DNA in July, according to the affidavit, even as additional women reported assaults. Once detectives recognized the pattern, they asked workers at Tracks Nightclub to be on the lookout for ride-share drivers who matched the women’s descriptions of the suspect.
A tipster then gave police a photo of Pastor-Mendoza inside the club and a photo of his vehicle and driver’s license. Investigators presented a photo lineup to a victim, who picked out Pastor-Mendoza as the man who assaulted her, according to the affidavit.
Investigators searched his home in August and found 18 cellphones, and a bank card that traced back to a woman who reported her Uber driver attempted to sexually assault her in May 2022. They also found cellphones belonging to other victims.
Pastor-Mendoza was initially charged Aug. 29, and the complaint against him was amended Friday. He is next due in court Nov. 4.
Denver police ask anyone who believes they may have been assaulted by Pastor-Mendoza to call 720-913-2000.
