‘Rideshare Rapist' pleads not guilty, his attorney says ICE is ‘exploiting' case
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) 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.
Orlando Vilchez Lazo, 37, has been charged with four counts of rape, three counts of kidnapping, three counts of kidnapping to commit another crime, and two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object, force and violence, according to court records.
Police have dubbed him "Rideshare Rapist" and said he's been linked by DNA evidence to four separate sexual assaults in San Francisco, one in 2013 and three this year.
Because Vilchez Lazo is a native of Peru and is undocumented, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said they'd lodged a detainer against him with San Francisco County Jail in light of the charges.
However, because San Francisco has declared itself a sanctuary city, San Francisco authorities are not obligated to cooperate with ICE detainer requests.
"ICE is not aware of any additional criminal history and this is the first detainer ICE has lodged against Vilchez Lazo," ICE officials said in a statement.
This morning outside of court, Vilchez Lazo's attorney Deputy Public Defender Sandy Feinland said, "ICE should not be exploiting cases like these to advance its own political agenda. He's pled not guilty, he's maintained his innocence and the Constitution entitles him to the presumption of innocence and to his day in court. We want to fight this case in the courtroom and not in the media."
Officials with the ride-hailing service Lyft confirmed that Vilchez Lazo did drive for them but said that he misrepresented himself. He's since been deactivated as a Lyft driver.
In a statement today, Lyft said, "Our hearts go out to those affected by these deeply disturbing acts. Individuals who drive for Lyft must be eligible to work in the U.S. Unfortunately in this circumstance, this person fraudulently represented himself. We stand ready to work with law enforcement and are actively addressing this case of fraud with out background check provider."
Because of the five-year gap between the reported rapes, authorities believe there may be more women who were victimized by Vilchez Lazo.
"Rape is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable," District Attorney's Office spokesman Alex Bastian said today outside of court. "We're asking for the public's help. If anyone has any information either about the defendant or the case, please contact the San Francisco Police Department or
the District Attorney's Office."
The first alleged assault occurred in November 2013 when a woman leaving a bar got into Vilchez Lazo's vehicle, mistaking him for her driver. Vilchez Lazo then took the woman to another location and raped her, police said.
The victim immediately reported the assault and police obtained forensic evidence. The evidence was put into CODICE, a criminal database.
No matches came up and the case went cold.
However, in February of this year, a similar alleged assault occurred and from that, investigators again obtained forensic evidence.
Once entered into the CODICE system, the evidence matched up with the evidence from the 2013 sexual assault.
In May, a third alleged sexual assault occurred in a similar manner. The forensic evidence from that assault matched the evidence from the two previous cases, according to police.
Officers then assembled a task force in order to identify and apprehend the suspect.
Then in June, a fourth alleged assault occurred involving a man posing as ride-hailing driver. The forensic evidence from that once again matched the evidence from the now three other previous assaults.
The task force followed numerous leads to track the suspect down and on July 7, undercover officers in the city's South of Market neighborhood observed suspicious behavior from a driver operating what appeared to be a ride-hailing vehicle.
Officers stopped the vehicle and identified the driver as Vilchez Lazo and took a DNA sample for analysis and comparison.
Last week, investigators were able to confirm that Vilchez Lazo's DNA matched the forensic evidence from the four alleged sexual assaults and moved to arrest him.
Vilchez Lazo remains in custody and is being held without bail. He returns to court on Aug. 1.