San Francisco “Rideshare Rapist” convicted in series of rapes of women leaving nightclubs
By Carlos E. Castañeda
A man who posed as a ride-hailing driver outside San Francisco nightclubs and preyed on women who mistook him for their driver was convicted of multiple rapes, the district attorney announced Friday.
Following a 12-week trial, Orlando Vilchez Lazo, 44, was convicted last week of two counts of kidnapping with intent to commit rape, three counts of kidnapping, four counts of rape by force or fear, and two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object.
Prosecutors said Vilchez Lazo targeted women mostly in the city’s South of Market neighborhood who were leaving bars or nightclubs by themselves. He would arrive in a vehicle with Lyft or Uber stickers and pick up women who thought they were getting into a rideshare they had ordered. Instead, he would take them to other locations and rape them, sometimes at knifepoint.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said DNA evidence allowed investigators to link the series of rapes that first began in 2013. In 2018, additional rapes were determined to have used the same modus operandi. After a task force was formed that year to investigate the rapes, Vilchez Lazo was arrested in July 2018 at his home in San Mateo County.
The trial was delayed for years because of multiple postponements, defense challenges over the use of DNA evidence, the multiple victims, and the prosecutors’ reconstruction of events across a five-year timeline.
Jenkins said that besides the DNA, other evidence also led to Vilchez Lazo’s conviction.
“Some of the victims were able to identify Mr. Vilchez Lazo out of a lineup,” said Jenkins. “Multiple phones of [the survivors] that he took from them so that they could not call for help were found in his residence, so there were multiple things tying him to these crimes.”
Vilchez Lazo is a Peruvian national who was living in the country illegally at the time of the crimes, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Uber said Vilchez Lazo never drove for the platform, while Lyft acknowledged he was one of its drivers after lying on his application about his immigration status.
Jenkins said Lazo’s crimes led ride-hailing companies to change their practices to increase rider safety.
“How many women had to be reminded at that time to be sure to check license plates when they were getting ready to enter a rideshare? That they didn’t say their name, but rather, wait for the driver to say their names?” Jenkins said. “That rideshare companies had to change their policies to ensure that drivers were background checked? And more recently, that we’ve seen rideshare companies allow the selection of female drivers? This conduct led to so many changes and so much fear stoked in women who were simply trying to get home safely.”
Vilchez Lazo faces a sentence of more than 100 years to life in prison. Jenkins said his sentencing will be in late April but the exact date has not been set.
