Ride-hail rapist arrested

Sherman, 40, was arrested at 9:20 a.m. Oct. 25 during a traffic stop and has been booked into San Mateo County Jail for kidnapping with the intent to sexually assault, rape and assault with a deadly weapon — all felonies.

Sherman was found driving the 2010 gray Toyota Matrix that he is believed to have driven during the crime, and police later searched his home on the 700 block of Calero Avenue in San Jose and found additional evidence linking him to the crime. The victim has also identified Sherman as the culprit.

The assault occurred on Tuesday, Aug. 14. Police received a call at about 7 p.m. that day from a witness on the 1400 block of Fashion Island Boulevard reporting that a sexual assault had occurred. Police arrived two minutes later.

The victim was in San Mateo around State Route 92 and Grant Street when she was picked up by a man who claimed to be an Uber driver and who was driving a car with Uber and Lyft stickers on the windshield. The victim said she was taken to a remote area and sexually assaulted. The suspect then drove her back to San Mateo and she was able to escape with the assistance of a passerby, according to police.

Detectives obtained surveillance footage from local businesses and isolated an image of the suspected vehicle, a gray Toyota hatchback. Multiple search warrants were issued to companies, including Uber and Lyft. The Department of Motor Vehicles provided detectives a list of more than 1,100 potential suspect vehicles matching the description and were able to narrow that list down to five. Additional search warrants were issued to obtain additional information that identified the 2010 Toyota Matrix as the car used during the assault.

Sherman was an Uber driver, but the company had suspended him the day before he allegedly carried out the assault because of a misconduct complaint filed against him. Police offered scant information about that complaint because it is the subject of an ongoing investigation.

Police Lt. Ryan Monaghan said Sherman had been contacted by police in the past on suspicion of domestic violence, but was not convicted. He added that Sherman is currently cooperating with police.

Manheimer said Uber was cooperative during the investigation, but not right away.

“Once Uber realized we were not going away until we solve this case [the company] became very helpful and responsive,” she said. “It took over three weeks for us to get cooperation from Uber and at that point who knows how long this individual was out there and how he may have preyed upon other individuals.”

She referenced a similar incident in the past after which police were unable to obtain information about the suspect from the ride-hail company until a civil suit was filed.

In another case of someone posing as a ride-hail driver to sexually assault women, San Mateo resident Orlando Vilchez Lazo, known as the “ride-hail rapist” was arrested in July for allegedly posing as a Lyft driver to sexually assault women between 2013 and 2018.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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