Man targeted women waiting on rides, then kidnapped and raped them, DA says
John Pastor-Mendoza is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting - or attempting to sexually assault - 10 women between September 2018 and July 2022.
The women left Denver bars alone and awaited vehicles they’d requested on ride-hailing apps. But instead of making it home, some of them later woke up in a stranger’s bed with no underwear or phone – and the realization that they had been sexually assaulted, investigators say.
Their alleged driver, John Pastor-Mendoza, now faces 41 felony counts in connection with the incidents. Pastor-Mendoza is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting – or attempting to sexually assault – 10 women between September 2018 and July 2022, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced Wednesday.
A public defender representing Pastor-Mendoza didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post. The 41-year-old remains jailed without bond; he is due back in court Nov. 4.
Although Pastor-Mendoza worked as driver for Lyft, a company spokesperson told The Post that he was probably providing rides off-the-books, since Lyft has no record of them being scheduled on its platform.
“The behavior described is absolutely appalling, and the driver has been permanently removed from the Lyft community,” the spokesperson said. “We have been in touch with law enforcement to assist with their investigation and stand ready to provide support in an ongoing capacity.”
Uber communications manager Navideh Forghani told The Post in a statement that Pastor-Mendoza “has never used the Uber platform to drive and has NEVER been a driver.”
Investigators allege in court documents that Pastor-Mendoza had a pattern: targeting seemingly intoxicated women hailing rides alone outside clubs and bars in downtown Denver, then assaulting them in his car or at his home.
The first incident, investigators say, took place four years ago outside of a trendy neighborhood bar. An unnamed woman was separated from her friends before she hailed a ride by herself. She woke up the next day in an unfamiliar bed with a man she did not know touching her, according to the arrest warrant for Pastor-Mendoza.
The woman, who left the apartment by foot, reported that her bank card, cellphone and underwear were missing. That day, she went to the hospital for a sexual assault examination but, at the time, chose to report what happened as a medical incident and not a matter for law enforcement, according to investigators.
In a similar case, a second woman reported being assaulted in July 2019. After going out for drinks, she ordered an Uber ride, which was then canceled on the app, according to the warrant. She told authorities she later woke up in the home of an unknown man, who claimed he’d found her in an alley and brought her to his place “to keep her safe.” She was also missing personal belongings, court records state. The woman had an evidence collection exam done and reported the incident to law enforcement.
In March 2022, another woman said she’d been sexually abused in the back of a car, which “she believed to be a ride-share service vehicle,” according to the warrant. She, too, went to the hospital for a sexual assault examination but did not wish to forward the case to law enforcement at that time, investigators said.
Four months later, a different woman decided to head home from a bar after feeling ill. A ride-hailing app assigned her a female driver in a blue sedan, but she entered a white car instead, according to court records. Her friends saw her get inside the vehicle and asked the driver to wait while they gathered the rest of the group to leave – but when they turned around, the man had driven off with her, investigators say.
The woman recalled a physical struggle with the driver and later awoke in her bed at home, though her underwear was missing, according to the warrant. She suspected she’d been sexually assaulted and reported to the hospital for an exam, requesting that law enforcement investigate.
Detectives say the woman was the fourth to be attacked by someone all of the victims had described as a short Hispanic man with dark curly hair in his 30s or 40s.
With that description and a noticeable pattern, investigators asked a bar in the area to be on the lookout for the man. Eventually, an employee at the bar sent police photos of a man who matched the description, along with pictures of his driver’s license and his car. The name on the license was John Pastor-Mendoza, investigators wrote in the warrant for his arrest.
In August 2022, police searched Pastor-Mendoza’s home, where they say they found a woman’s bank card and a box with 18 cellphones. Investigators traced the items back to women who’d previously reported they’d been raped, court records state.
DNA samples taken from three of the victims pointed to Pastor-Mendoza as the suspect in those cases, investigators determined this summer. Victims also identified him in a photo lineup, according to the warrant.
Pastor-Mendoza was arrested in August. After further investigation revealed more victims, McCann, the district attorney, announced this week that he’d been charged with 41 felony counts: 10 of kidnapping a victim to commit a sexual offense, 12 of sexual assault, 18 of attempted sexual assault and one of robbery.
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