Fake ride-share driver sexually assaulted 2 and kidnapped 12, Colorado officials say

A man is facing prison time after being convicted of impersonating a ride-share driver and sexually assaulting passengers, Colorado officials said.

John Pastor-Mendoza, 43, was convicted Oct. 24 of 30 charges relating to kidnapping and sexual assault, the Denver District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Between 2018 and 2022, Pastor-Mendoza pretended to be a ride-share driver, officials said.

He would sexually assault the women in his car or take them somewhere else to assault them, officials said.

In September 2018, his first victim said she ordered a ride-share in the Lodo area before she “blacked out and woke up in a bed in an unknown apartment,” according to the arrest affidavit.

Her underwear had been taken off, and she eventually fled the apartment by foot, the document said.

During her Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Exam (SANE), she told medical staff she did not consent to having sex with anyone during the night, the affidavit said.

Another woman said she was at a bar in the Denver area when she ordered an Uber, the document said.

Later, the woman woke up in a bed in an unknown house when a man walked into the room and said he had found her in an alley and took her home to “keep her safe,” the affidavit said.

He offered to take her home, and she later realized she’d been sexually assaulted, officials said.

During her SANE exam, the DNA found matched the DNA discovered during the other victim’s examination, the document said.

Another woman reported a similar experience, saying she had been separated from her friends while out, officials said.

She “blacked out” in what she believed to be a ride-share service vehicle, the document said.

The woman then woke up to a man sexually assaulting her, officials said.

The DNA found during her SANE exam also matched Pastor-Mendoza’s DNA, officials said.

In July 2022, a woman ordered a ride-share service from a nightclub in Denver but told the driver to wait while she gathered the rest of her friends, officials said.

But the driver left with the sole passenger, who woke up to her face being pressed into a seat-belt buckle, officials said.

The driver took her home, and she later realized she had been sexually assaulted and her underwear had been stolen from her, officials said.

An officer went to the Denver nightclub and learned that the man was known as a “regular patron,” who they believed worked as a Lyft driver, officials said.

An arrest warrant was issued for Pastor-Mendoza, and a search warrant was performed, officials said.

When officers searched his home, they found bank cards issued to the victims and a box with 18 cellphones inside, officials said.

Pastor-Mendoza was convicted of kidnapping 12 women, sexually assaulting two of them and attempting to sexually assault seven others, officials said.

McClatchy News reached out to Uber and Lyft for a statement on Oct. 25 and was awaiting a response.

“I am very pleased with the jury’s verdict, which ensures that Mr. Pastor-Mendoza will be held accountable for his heinous crimes,” Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in the release.

Pastor-Mendoza is scheduled to reappear in court on March 7 for his sentencing, officials said.

This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 11:19 AM with the headline "Fake ride-share driver sexually assaulted 2 and kidnapped 12, Colorado officials say."