DENVER — A man posing as a rideshare driver was convicted of 30 charges Thursday related to kidnapping, sexual assault and attempted sexual assault of 12 women around Denver.
The charges stem from incidents ranging from 2018 to 2022, where John Pastor-Mendoza, now 43, pretended to be a rideshare driver, picked up women using an app and then either sexually assaulted them in the car or at another location. Of the 12 people he was convicted of kidnapping, he sexually assaulted two and attempted to sexually assault seven, according to the Denver District Attorney's Office.
The jury got the case on Oct. 17 and reached the guilty verdict Thursday, the DA's office said.
Pastor-Mendoza's sentencing is scheduled for March 7.
He was initially charged in October 2022. Denver7 obtained his arrest affidavit after he was taken into custody, and according to the document and prosecutors, he picked up many of the women from bars in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood before they were attacked, but the last three assaults all happened after women left Tracks Denver, located at 3500 Walnut St.
In 2022, prosecutors listed out the known dates of the assaults and where the victims had been at the time:
- Sept. 16, 2018 — The Matchbox, 2625 Larimer St.
- Dec. 29-30, 2018 — Beta Nightclub, 1909 Blake St.
- March 9, 2019 — LoDo area
- March 17, 2019 — LoDo’s Bar and Grill, 1946 Market St.
- Aug. 15, 2021 — The Irish Rover Pub, 54 South Broadway
- Sept. 23, 2021 — Speer Boulevard and 13th Street
- March 4, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
- May 13-14, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
- July 8-9, 2022 — Tracks Denver, 3500 Walnut St.
The victims received Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner examinations and the recovered DNA was put into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). All matched for the same suspect, according to the affidavit. There was evidence the assaults were violent, as the victims reported bruises, abrasions, pain and, in some cases, signs of strangulation, the affidavit reads.
A sergeant with the Denver Police Department Sex Crimes Unit noted similarities between the cases and assigned a detective to investigate. That detective contacted Tracks Denver nightclub and an employee said they knew of a man who regularly visited and matched the suspect's description. The employee said they knew the man as a rideshare driver.
After a victim identified Pastor-Mendoza as the suspect, Denver officers arrested him on Aug. 19, 2022 on charges of kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and attempting to sexually assault several women.
Police executed a search warrant at his home address on Aug. 21, 2022, and found a cardboard box containing 18 cell phones. At least two of the phones belonged to victims who were named in the affidavit.
In addition, the search warrant obtained by Denver7 revealed the women were drugged before the assaults. Controlled substances allegedly found in the suspect’s home included tranquilizers, amphetamines, muscle relaxers, hallucinogenic drugs and marijuana concentrate. All the victims describe ordering a rideshare home, blacking out, and waking up to being assaulted.
The jury found Pastor-Mendoza guilty of the charges against him on Thursday.
"I am very pleased with the jury’s verdict, which ensures that Mr. Pastor-Mendoza will be held accountable for his heinous crimes," Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said. "I first want to thank the jurors for their service during this lengthy trial. I also want to thank the prosecutors, investigators, victim advocates and paralegals in my office, as well as the detectives and digital evidence analysts with the Denver Police Department, for their outstanding work on the case. Most of all, however, I want to acknowledge Mr. Pastor-Mendoza’s victims, whose courage in coming forward and testifying at trial resulted in today’s outcome."
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