Denver Lyft driver convicted of kidnapping and assault

A jury on Thursday convicted a Denver Lyft driver of 30 charges, including kidnapping and assault.

John Edgar Pastor-Mendoza, 43, was convicted of kidnapping 12 women between 2018 and 2022, sexually assaulting two women and attempting to sexually assault seven others, the Denver district attorney’s office said. He initially faced 41 felony charges, including 10 counts of kidnapping, 12 counts of sexual assault, 18 counts of attempted assault and one charge of theft.

Police said Pastor-Mendoza was a pattern of picking up women who were drunk and had sought safe rides home, posing as the driver assigned to their ride request. Some reported passing out and waking up in an unknown place, missing belongings such as their underwear and cell phones, and an unknown man touching them. At least two women woke up in the back of a shared car with a man in it and suffered injuries from the attacks.

DNA linked the attacks to the same man, and nightclub employees helped identify Pastor-Mendoza. Missing property belonging to the victims was found during a search of his home.