A 44-year-old man convicted of a string of violent sexual assaults he committed while posing as a rideshare driver in San Francisco will spend the rest of his life behind bars, prosecutors said Monday.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Eric Fleming sentenced Orlando Vilchez Lazo to 150 years to life in state prison, following his conviction on 12 felony counts, including kidnappings and sexual assaults that occurred between 2013 and 2018, prosecutors said.
Vilchez Lazo, whom authorities dubbed the “Rideshare Rapist,” was arrested in July 2018, one month after he assaulted his fourth victim. Prosecutors said the man would prey on young women who were waiting for their rideshare vehicle outside bars or nightclubs in San Francisco by pretending he was their driver.
A jury earlier this year convicted him of four counts of rape by force or fear, two counts of kidnapping with intent to commit rape, three counts of kidnapping and two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object. The jury also found true multiple allegations on each of the rape counts, including kidnapping, a personal use of a deadly weapon and the personal use of a dangerous weapon for his final victim.
“These women were remarkable in calling upon a level of bravery that no person should ever have to experience,” said Assistant District Attorney Michele Brass, who prosecuted the case. “They showed grace, courage, and strength during this excruciatingly long process. I hope these verdicts and this sentence provide them with some sense of closure and peace.”
The first reported rape occurred in 2013, when Vilchez Lazo picked up a 21-year-old who was leaving a bar in the Mission District. But instead of taking her home, Vilchez Lazo drove her to an “abandoned, industrial area,” locked the car’s doors and raped her, prosecutors said.
The investigation remained cold until 2018, when a 22-year-old woman reported being violently raped by a man posing as her rideshare driver and his DNA sample was entered into a criminal database in February of that year. By May and June of 2018, two more violent sexual assaults were reported to San Francisco police, prosecutors said.
According to KRON4, the fourth victim – who was 21 – had been at a nightclub with her friends in the South of Market district when Vilchez Lazo drove up, saying, “Uber, Uber.” Believing he was her Uber driver, she got into the vehicle before he drove her to an abandoned area. Though she was dragged back into the car several times, she ultimately escaped the vehicle and ran to a nearby street, banging on the door of a home on Goettinger Street, the outlet reported.
KRON4 reported that San Francisco police’s undercover surveillance team arrested him after noticing a vehicle with a rideshare sticker that matched the description of the earlier incidents. After officers watched the driver circle the area of Howard and Second streets without picking up anyone for more than an hour, they pulled the vehicle over.
Vilchez Lazo was behind the wheel. His DNA later matched all four cases, KRON4 reported.
“Justice has been served for these courageous victims,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Monday. “This sentence reflects the gravity and heinousness of Mr. Vilchez Lazo’s crimes and holds him accountable for the pain he has caused. It also ensures that his reign of terror on our community permanently ends.”
Subscribe
There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at San Francisco judge sentences ‘rideshare rapist’ to life behind bars.