DENVER — State Representative Jenny Willford filed a lawsuit against Lyft on Monday, claiming the company is aware of a "systemic problem of sexual assault on passengers" following her own alleged assault.
According to the lawsuit, Willford was sexually assaulted by a man pretending to be a Lyft driver in February 2024.
“Last February, after meeting up with some friends, I ordered a Lyft home and I was sexually assaulted by the Lyft driver," Willford said during a press conference Monday. “A few minutes into the ride, the driver started asking personal questions, like if I was married, and then it quickly escalated to inappropriate comments about what he wanted to do to me and how he felt that my husband wouldn't mind if we had sex. He clearly had a plan for how he wanted his night to turn out, and I was trapped in his car.”
Willford said she texted her husband and neighbor during the ride because she was scared the driver would act upon what he said.
When the driver stopped near her Adams County home, Willford said he blocked her from exiting the vehicle and pushed her back into the car.
“I don't know how to put into words how excruciating it was to be so close to home, so close to my husband and our two kids, and so close to safety while being assaulted in view of my house," Willford said through tears. “After I pushed my way out, I ran down my neighbor's driveway and I hid in their backyard until it was safe to go home.”
Willford reported what happened to the Northglenn Police Department and Lyft. The lawsuit alleges Lyft responded by telling Willford she would not be matched with that driver again and refunding her $85.53 fair.
“The PTSD has been crippling, robbing me of time with friends and family, impacting how I do my job as a state legislator, and changing the person I see when I look in the mirror," said Willford. “I couldn't get out of bed, let alone leave my house. I wanted to hide from the world, but I also didn't want anyone else to get hurt.”
Willford said she never imagined she would be so vulnerable in a room filled with cameras and press, but said her platform is one that most people do not have.
“It's why I am here to say that Lyft needs to take their systemic problems of sexual assaults, fake profiles, sold or rented profiles and profile sharing very seriously and do something now," Willford said. “What happened to me never should have happened, and I don't want it to happen to anyone else.”
Willford's attorneys said the Lyft driver has not been arrested and the investigation is ongoing.
- Watch the full press conference below
"Account Renting"
Willford named Lyft and Shanu Transportation, LLC. as defendants in her lawsuit. Our partners at The Denver Post described the company as a local transportation outfit.
The suit claims that Shanu Transportation, LLC is owned by Kholmurod Halimov. He registered as a Lyft driver under the name "Shanu," according to the lawsuit. Willford said she was matched with "Shanu" when she called for a Lyft on the night of the incident.
“As my case has been investigated, I've learned that the driver was using someone else's profile and wasn't even the driver presented to me by the Lyft app," said Willford.
Attorneys claim the man who picked up Willford was not Halimov and was a different person using the "Shanu" account. Since the driver has not been arrested, Denver7 is not publishing his name.
It's a practice Willford's attorney, Morgan Carroll, called account renting.
“The issue of account renting, if you're not familiar with the term, is one person will go through and create a legitimate account, pass a background check and often make money on the side or give a password to a friend," said Carroll. “And now we have a stream of people with access to the Lyft accounts who have not passed a background check and are not a qualified driver in the state of Colorado using the app."
According to Lyft's policies, drivers are not allowed to let other people use their accounts. In a written statement, a spokesperson for Lyft said impersonating a driver "can and does lead to a permanent ban from the platform."
The statement from Lyft continued to say safety is fundamental to the company, and the company takes reports of sexual assault "very seriously." When such incidents are reported, Lyft said it works with local law enforcement so appropriate actions can be taken.
A Lyft spokesperson said the company does not comment on issues directly related to ongoing litigation. The company has a safety response team, a partnership with ADT to assist with emergencies, and is "working with leading national organizations" to inform their safety policies, according to the spokesperson.
The lawsuit claims the problem of fake rideshare accounts or sharing an account is difficult to quantify but "reports suggest the issue is significant with estimates including thousands of fraudulent accounts being created every month."
Carroll does not believe Lyft has done enough to combat account renting.
“Lyft has also known about the systemic problem of imposter and fake accounts and has failed to address this systemic problem," said Carroll. “Most disturbing out of the failure to address this issue is it is usually exactly because a person cannot pass a background check that they're using these imposter or rented accounts in order to pick people up for money.”
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Rape Kit Backlog
When Willford reported the alleged assault to police, she was asked to submit the dress and underwear she wore that night for DNA testing. She has been waiting on those results since.
"I have been waiting for DNA test results for almost a year. A year of walking through a never-ending nightmare. A year of waiting for answers. A year of wondering if the driver will ever be held accountable, or [I'll] run into him in the grocery store. A year of being haunted by his eyes in the rearview mirror, and a year of not being able to move on with my life with no end in sight," Willford said.
Willford said her case is one of hundreds stuck in a backlog of DNA rape kit testing at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Currently, it takes 517 days to test a DNA rape kit in Colorado. The backlog before November 23, 2024, was 275 days.
CBI has a stated goal of 90 days for testing a DNA rape kit.
A spokesperson with CBI said alleged manipulation by former CBI scientist Yvonne "Missy" Woods has exacerbated the backlog. The former forensic scientist retired in November 2023 after CBI discovered "anomalies" in her work over a career that spanned nearly three decades.
As a result, 50% of the lab work done at CBI in 2024 was dedicated to reviewing Woods' cases to determine which were impacted. According to CBI, 1,003 cases were identified as impacted during a review.
Soon, CBI will have 31 DNA lab analysts conducting casework full-time now that the review of Wood's work has concluded. CBI's also been given the budget to hire eight more DNA lab analysts in the coming months to help with the backlog.
- Full statement from CBI:
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation acknowledges the backlog to process DNA cases is far longer than any of us want it to be. The primary factor involved former DNA scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods. She retired in November of 2023 soon after CBI learned of anomalies with her work that required reviewing every case during her 29-year history with the bureau. The CBI Forensics unit had to devote significant staff time and effort to determine how many cases were impacted by the alleged shortcuts Woods took with her work.
The CBI now has 16 DNA scientists on staff and another 15 in training. Additionally, CBI will be hiring additional DNA scientists in the next few months. While the CBI is committed to reducing this backlog with the addition of new staff, it will not take shortcuts. Testing DNA and processing results is complicated, time-consuming work, and provides valuable investigative information towards achieving answers and accountability in our criminal justice system. As the Director stated at a recent legislative hearing, our goal is a 90 day turnaround time. We are in the process of working with many parties to identify the path forward to make that goal a reality as soon as possible.
The CBI continually triages cases with law enforcement agencies and District Attorneys to prioritize testing to meet required deadlines.
Denver7 reached out to Shanu Transportation but did not receive a response before publication.
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