A man dubbed the “Rideshare Rapist” was recently convicted on 11 felony counts by an SF jury in the assaults of four women from 2013 to 2018, in which prosecutors say he posed as their rideshare driver then kidnapped and raped them.

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins made the announcement Friday that a San Francisco jury recently found Orlando Vilchez Lazo, 44, guilty of raping four women between the ages of 21 and 22 whom he kidnapped and assaulted between 2013 and 2018.

Vilchez Lazo targeted women waiting for their Lyft and Uber rides after leaving local nightclubs in the Mission and South of Market neighborhoods, pretended to be their driver, then took them to secluded areas to rape them, as previously reported by SFist.  

He was charged on 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, and he’s facing 100 years-to-life in prison. The sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled, as the Chronicle reports.

Jenkins writes that Vilchez Lazo kidnapped the first woman waiting for her rideshare in the Mission District in 2013. Prosecutors said he took her to an abandoned, industrial area, then raped her. The woman completed a SART Forensic Examination at San Francisco General Hospital, enabling authorities to create a DNA profile on the suspect before it was later classified as a cold case.

Five years later, three other women waiting for rideshares were picked up the same way between February and June of 2018 in SoMa. The third victim, who said Vilchez Lazo had a rideshare decal in his window, first got into the car with a friend, whom he tricked into getting out before driving off with the victim and raping her on Mansell Street. The woman said he held a metal object up to her throat and threatened her.

“[T]his can be easy or this can be violent,” he told the victim, Jenkins wrote in the statement.

Another woman was picked up near Howard and Second streets after Vilchez Lazo pulled up and said, “Uber, Uber.” The woman said he threatened her with a sharp object, and she was bleeding in multiple places.

“She was able to escape the vehicle after being raped and dragged back into the car several times,” prosecutors wrote, per KRON4. “She ran to a nearby street and banged on the door of a residence on Goettingen Street.”

As KPIX reports, a task force was formed to investigate the rapes in 2018, and authorities arrested Vilchez Lazo in San Mateo County in July 2018.

The trial experienced years of delays due to numerous postponements, challenges from the defense over DNA evidence — Vilchez Lazo’s DNA was reportedly a match in all four cases, and the hurdles faced by prosecutors to piece together events from multiple cases, including a cold case.

Additional evidence helped with Vilchez Lazo's conviction, including being identified by some of the victims in a lineup and police uncovering the women’s phones from his home, which he took from the women during the assaults, per KPIX.

“Let this conviction serve as a reminder to those who think they can outrun justice;” Jenkins said “my office will be relentless in our pursuit and never stop fighting for victims and survivors of crime.”

Previously: ‘Rideshare Rapist’ Charges To Proceed, Despite Allegations of Improperly Collected DNA

Image: San Francisco Police Department

In a new documentary airing on Oxygen, convicted serial killer and rapist Joseph Naso confessed to killing 26 victims, including 19-year-old Pamela Lambson on Mount Tam in 1977, originally pinned on “The Dating Game Killer” in 2011.

As reported by SFist, 91-year-old Naso, who represented himself in court, was convicted in 2013 in the murders of four Northern California women: Roxene Roggasch, 18, found near Fairfax in 1977; Carmen Colon, 22, Port Costa in 1978; Pamela Parsons, 38, Yuba County in 1993; and Tracy Tafoya, 31, Yuba County in 1994.

As KGO reports, Bill Noguera, a former death row inmate working as an undercover criminal investigator, spoke to Naso for over a decade. In a feature with Vanity Fair, Noguera said Naso referred to his so-called top 10 hit list of victims as his “Greatest Hits” out of many. He said Pamela Lambson was number six, calling her the “Girl from Berkeley.”

KGO writes that Naso told Noguera that he left the bodies of Lambson and a second victim on Mount Tamalpais. Naso said he pretended to be the Oakland A's photographer to lure Lambson into having nude photos taken, then posed her dead body against a tree.

“‘And she just drove me crazy about being an entertainer, and these photographs were because she was going to be a star, and she was dating one of the players from the A's,’” he told Noguera, via KGO. “‘So, I posed her, now she's getting all the entertainment and all the exposure she needs.’”

As Vanity Fair writes, Naso expressed irritation over Lambson’s murder being attributed to Rodney Alcala, known as the “The Dating Game Killer.” It was especially irksome to Naso that Alcala was referred to as a “professional” photographer.

As KGO reports, Naso was a father of two who coached little league and worked as a school photographer. He also photographed women pretending to be dead, including at least six of his victims before their deaths.

Noguera told Vanity Fair that he had to hold his breath around Naso due to his terrible hygiene — even outdoors.

Death Row Confidential: Secrets of a Serial Killer premieres on Oxygen September 13.

All previous Joseph Naso coverage on SFist.

You've got to be a special sort of cynic to want to represent Harvey Weinstein in court, and one shining gem of an attorney asked the wife of California's governor to fake an orgasm on the stand on Tuesday.

The line of questioning is, at base, already gross. A defense attorney for Weinstein, Mark Werksman, was cross-examining Jennifer Siebel Newsom in the Los Angeles rape trial on Tuesday, essentially trying to discredit her story that Weinstein arranged to get her alone in a hotel room in 2005 and force himself on her sexually — a story that many, many women have corroborated as exactly what happened to them. As the Daily Beast reports, Werksman's point was to question how Siebel Newsom "indicated pleasure" during the encounter — saying that Siebel Newsom implied she'd faked an orgasm and therefore it must have been consensual.

"Do you understand the paradox of trying to stop a rapist by faking an orgasm?" Werksman asked.

Siebel Newsom had testified, per the Daily Beast, that Weinstein "began to touch himself before engaging in a brutal 'cat-and-mouse' game that included his penetrating her with his 'fish-like' and 'messed-up' penis, digitally penetrating her, and orally assaulting her. The whole assault, she said, made her feel like 'this blow-up doll that he’s just trying to masturbate off of.'"

Werksman's question about "indicating pleasure" left Siebel Newsom looking "horrified," as TMZ reports.

"It was not long. This is not When Harry Met Sally. I'm not doing that," Siebel Newsom said on the stand, per TMZ, referring to the famous Meg Ryan diner scene. She then reportedly broke down in tears and said, "I was making noises to get him to finish. He had already raped me. … This is so gross. I'm sorry."

Reactions have been swift on social media, with former Chronicle columnist Carla Marinucci writing on Twitter, "Unreal" and someone replying, "Defense just lost every woman on the jury."

Siebel Newsom has said in the past and at this trial that Weinstein lured her to what she thought was a business meeting about her career at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills in 2005. Echoing stories told by many other actresses who had similar encounters with Weinstein, all of his assistants quickly left them alone, and Siebel Newsom said Weinstein picked her up and carried her to the bed, where he grabbed her breasts and forced oral copulation on her.

When questioned by a prosecutor in the case as to why she did not try to leave the hotel room immediately, Siebel Newsom said, "Because you don’t say no to Harvey Weinstein. He could make or ruin your career."

In opening statements three weeks ago, Werksman began the mud-slinging at Governor Newsom's wife by suggesting that if she hadn't married Newsom, "She’d be just another bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead."

The defense has questioned why Siebel Newsom came forward with her story when she did in 2017, and why she only offered to speak to detectives then.

"I offered to talk to detectives initially to support other women, not to be up here on the witness stand," Siebel Newsom replied, per the Daily Beast, before tearing up again.

Werksman further tried to question statements Siebel Newsom said in her testimony about putting the incident in mental box over time, and only recently beginning to rehash it in greater detail.

"But as you pulled memories out of the box, you changed them,” Werksman said, per the Daily Beast.

"Sir, he assaulted me," Siebel Newsom replied.

Werksman has further tried to discredit Siebel Newsom by showing jurors emails she sent to Weinsten over the next 18 months, including one in which she thanked him for an Oscar party invitation for her and a friend in which she said, "We had such a fun time."

As the New York Post reports, Siebel Newsom, who was a struggling actress at the time, responded on the stand, "I was just hustling."

Siebel Newsom is one of four women set to testify in this, Weinstein's second sex-crimes trial. In Los Angeles, he faces seven counts of assault against the four women, and a fifth victim has recently dropped out of the case. He was previously convicted in New York State in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison, a sentence that was recently upheld on appeal.

Previously: Mud Thrown at Jen Siebel Newsom in Weinstein Trial: ‘Just Another Bimbo Who Slept With Harvey’

Top image: Governor Gavin Newsom (R) and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom arrive during the 13th Annual California Hall of Fame induction ceremony at The California Museum on December 10, 2019 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

A man convicted of raping 25 women in the Bay Area in 1980s recently became eligible for the state’s new Elderly Parole Program, and is getting a parole hearing Wednesday, much to the horror of his many victims.

George Anthony Sanchez, a former San Jose sewer worker, was convicted in 1989 following a rape spree that spanned at least three years, between 1984 and 1987. He was 27 years old and married at the time, and he was known to target women in and around churches in nine South Bay communities, including an 83-year-old woman he raped in a church confessional.

"In the history of Santa Clara County, he is arguably the most vicious and horrific serial rapist we've ever had," says Santa Clara County Deputy DA Steven Dick, speaking with KRON 4. And of the victim count, Dick says, "It's probably more than that. It's probably up to 45 women that he raped. He raped women from the ages of 16 to 83, and most of them he raped in their homes."

In one case, Sanchez raped a mother on a bed while her 17-year-old daughter lay frozen beside them. In another, he raped a pregnant woman while her four-year-old son lay on the floor nearby. And he always wore a ski mask and often brought jewelry stolen from his victims home to his wife — she was charged as a co-defendant with 13 counts of possession of stolen property, but those charges were dropped.

Sanchez was originally sentenced to more than 400 years in prison, but as KPIX explains, under the Elderly Parole Program, Sanchez would qualify both as a youth offender — he committed all of his rapes before the age of 26 — and as an elderly offender who has spent decades behind bars. The program is typically only available to inmates who are 60 or older, but the youth circumstance grants Sanchez the possibility of speedier parole. He is currently 58, and apparently requested the parole hearing.

Sanchez's victims say they want to do everything in their power to prevent him from walking free. A victim named Lisa who withheld her last name told the Mercury-News, "I thought he had no chance at parole. I will do anything in this world to keep that from happening. I’ll go to every parole hearing. I will do whatever it takes to keep him in prison." She added, "George Sanchez does not deserve to be considered under this law. Some people do, but not him."

Dick tells the Mercury-News that he doesn't care to debate the merits of the Elderly Parole Program when it comes to this case. "There are some people who have committed such heinous and horrendous acts that justice demands that they serve the sentence that they were given," he says.

An article from 1989 about Sanchez's conviction from the UPI archives suggests that he was set to receive a life-without-parole sentence, but that did not end up happening. He was sentenced instead to 406 years.

The Elderly Parole Program is open only to those sentenced with the possibility of parole, those who have served a minimum of 25 years already, and not to any inmate convicted of first-degree murder of a peace officer.

Santa Cruz police released a sketch of a man who beat and raped a visiting 21-year-old woman visiting the UCSC campus on Sunday afternoon. According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, the suspect is "believed to be about 5 feet 10 inches tall with a stocky build, dark hair and green eyes. He had a mustache and goatee, and was wearing blue jeans and a dark blue T-shirt at the time." He fled toward Steinhart Way shortly after the attack.

While walking a wooded path between the Upper Quarry amphitheater and the Classroom Unit buildings along a path at 12:30 p.m., the suspect struck her in the head and torso several times before assaulting her. The woman called 911 and was treated at a nearby hospital.

Police have posted these flyers around campus.

Campus authorities have alerted students to be on alert. Any information about the case should be directed to UC Santa Cruz authorities at 831-459-2231. Anonymous reports can made by calling 831-459-3TIP or via online at http://police.ucsc.edu.

A convicted rapist in Contra Costa County court yesterday threw a fit and began muttering "lies" when a letter from his disabled, 80-year-old rape victim was read aloud during his sentencing. Anthony Carl Square, 46, had already agreed last month to plead no contest to three felony counts of rape and related charges in exchange for a sentence of 21 years in state prison. But when prosecutors read the letter from the relative of Square's estranged wife whom Square raped on January 11, 2011, Square lost his cool and began stomping around in his courtroom cell and "huffing," prompting the judge to yell at him twice.

It stands to reason he might be upset hearing the details of his crime read back to him, since they're pretty horrific: The woman says that while Square was living with her in her senior housing complex, during an estrangement with his wife, he blew up at her one night in a moment of some sort of paranoia, drawing a knife on her and forcing oral copulation. He threatened to kill her and his wife, saying it was "because you know all about it," ultimately throwing her on the floor, ripping off her adult diaper, and raping her. He then stole $8 from her wallet and fled the apartment.

In the saddest detail, she's asking for $750 restitution from Square. She wrote to the court that she no longer feels safe in familiar places, and that living in the same apartment and sitting in the same chair where the incident began are terrible reminders of the ordeal. She wants to use the $750 to replace the chair, and the mattress Square used while living there.

Square is contesting the request for restitution, and is apparently still in denial about what happened.

[CC Times]

Today we get the disturbing tale of a 19-year-old woman who narrowly escaped getting kidnapped and roofied on Sunday while walking along Mission Street. She was walking near the corner of Mission and 19th at 1 a.m. Sunday when a 25-year-old suspect approached her with a gun. He dragged her to a nearby van, threatening to shoot her, and forced her to get in back.

The suspect then tried to force her to swallow a pill, which she somehow was able to resist or fake, and then he started driving the van toward Potrero Hill. When the van stopped at the intersection of 17th and Kansas, the woman was able to open the door and flee on foot. She contacted police immediately, but so far there are no leads on the kidnapper or the van. The only detail given is that the van was brown. [Mission Local, CBS]

A 52-year-old man convicted of raping two women in 1998 had his conviction upheld by a state appeals judge yesterday. Larry White was convicted in 2005 of the crimes, via DNA evidence, of kidnapping and raping a homeless woman as well as a 21-year-old Japanese tourist who had chosen to spend the night sleeping on the corner of Kearny of Market before catching her flight home. White and a second man woke the young woman up around 2 a.m. telling her it was dangerous to sleep on the street, forcing her to come with them to a parking lot, where White raped her. On appeal, all he was challenging was the kidnapping conviction. [Bay City News/Appeal]

Last November's harrowing story about a Glen Park woman being raped twice by the same man, it seems, was just that: a story. It turns out that she fabricated the tale of first being raped as she walked from the Glen Park BART station on Bosworth Street, and then assaulted again by the same man at gunpoint just few days later in her garage.

The victim-cum-suspect has yet to have any false-report charges filed against her. No word as to why she lied about such a thing, but we're simply dying to know more. Why would she create such a fabrication? Fascinating stuff.

And just when we were in the process of starting up a torch self-righteous, pistol-wielding vigilante group. Damn it. But looking on the bright side, at least it never happened in the first place, right? Right.

You can read more about it here.

From November 16 to November 18, Denton Geiger, 42, a San Francisco resident, held his (ex)girlfriend captive in their former home, where beat and raped her. (Jesus.) According to the Examiner, "Geiger allegedly approached the victim on Haight as she sold marijuana and persuaded her to go to their former home...[t]he victim escaped on Nov. 18 when an acquaintance entered the residence and intervened as she fled to a neighbor’s house."

After a good old-fashion SFPD stakeout at the Transbay Terminal -- it seems Geiger planned on leaving the city after catching wind that the fuzz was after him -- he was snatched up, thrown in the clink, and charged with attempted murder, five counts of rape, oral copulation, making terrorist threats, and kidnapping for the purpose of rape.

Image credit: Andrew Novak