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PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 'Rideshare Rapist' pleads not guilty
A man accused of sexually assaulting four women while pretending?to be a ride-hailing service driver throughout downtown San Francisco pleaded?not guilty this morning to multiple charges. KTVU's Christien Kafton reports.
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco judge on Monday sentenced a convicted serial rapist who posed as a rideshare driver to six life sentences for kidnapping and sexually assaulting women he picked up after they left bars and nightclubs.
Orlando Vilchez Lazo, 44, known as the "rideshare rapist," will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He was convicted earlier this year of multiple counts of kidnapping and rape in connection with attacks that occurred between 2013 and 2018, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
"This sentence reflects the gravity and heinousness of Mr. Vilchez Lazo’s crimes and holds him accountable for the pain he has caused," District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said. "It also ensures that his reign of terror on our community permanently ends."
Attacks followed a similar pattern
The backstory:
Prosecutors said Vilchez Lazo targeted women who were waiting for rides after leaving bars and nightclubs. He posed as a rideshare driver, picked them up and took them to remote or secluded locations, where he raped them.
The first attack occurred in 2013, when Vilchez Lazo picked up a 21-year-old college student who had left a bar in San Francisco’s Mission District. He took her to an abandoned industrial area, locked the car doors, and raped her.
The case was eventually classified as a cold case until a DNA sample from a February 2018 incident entered the system, matching evidence from the 2013 attack.
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February 2018 assault
In February 2018, a 22-year-old woman left a SoMa club with a friend and ordered a rideshare home. After the ride was canceled, Vilchez Lazo pulled up to the curb and told the women he could drive them.
The women believed he was a rideshare driver and got into the vehicle. Less than a block away, Vilchez Lazo pulled over and told the friend to get out and get water, prosecutors said.
As soon as the friend left the car, Vilchez Lazo sped away with the woman inside. He took her to Mansell Street and raped her in a secluded area, prosecutors said.
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Two more assaults in 2018
In May 2018, a third woman left a SoMa club and ordered a rideshare near Howard and Second streets. Vilchez Lazo pulled up in a vehicle displaying a rideshare decal, and the woman got inside, prosecutors said.
"Vilchez Lazo falsely confirmed he was her rideshare driver," the district attorney's office said. "He then proceeded to take Survivor No. 3’s cellphone and transported her to Mansell Street where he got into the backseat of the car and violently raped her."
The woman did not know where she was and screamed for help, prosecutors said. During the assault, Vilchez Lazo held a metal object to her neck and told her, "This can be easy or this can be violent."
DNA evidence from the case matched evidence from the 2013 and February 2018 assaults.
In June 2018, a fourth woman left a SoMa club and ordered a rideshare near Howard and Second streets. Vilchez Lazo pulled up, identified himself as an Uber driver and picked her up.
He took her cellphone after it began ringing, then drove her to Mansell Street and raped her, prosecutors said. He threatened her with a sharp object, holding it to her neck and ordering her to comply.
The woman felt blood on her hands and realized she had been cut in multiple places, according to prosecutors. She escaped from the vehicle and knocked on the door of a home on Goettingen Street. The resident called police.
Arrest and conviction
What we know:
In July 2018, San Francisco police undercover officers noticed a vehicle with rideshare stickers matching the description of the suspect vehicle. The car circled the area near Howard and Second streets for more than an hour without picking up passengers.
Police stopped the vehicle and arrested Vilchez Lazo.
DNA evidence ultimately linked him to all four assaults.
The Source: This story is based on information provided by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office after Orlando Vilchez Lazo’s sentencing hearing. He was convicted in April of multiple counts of kidnapping and rape. The story also includes reporting by KTVU from 2018 through this year.