In September of 2019 we reported that Octavio Alvarez Gomez, a rideshare driver for Lyft and Uber in the Van Nuys, CA, area, had been charged with one count each of kidnapping to commit rape and rape of an unconscious person. As an update to this case, on September 8 of 2020, CBSLA reported that the 39-year old rideshare driver was sentenced to six years in state prison after pleading no contest in August 2020, to one felony count of rape of an unconscious person according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Alvarez Gomez of Canoga Park, CA, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to Deputy District Attorney Ranna Jahanshahi.
On October 2, 2018, Gomez, who was driving for Lyft that night, picked up the victim from a bar after she ordered a ride to take her home. Instead of dropping the woman off at her requested location, Alvarez Gomez continued driving for a considerable distance before stopping his vehicle in a secluded area and raped the victim, the prosecutors said.
Police were eventually able to track Alvarez Gomez down and arrested him while he was driving for Lyft. At the time of his arrest, he was booked on suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to commit a sexual assault, rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object and felony sexual battery. He has remained behind bars since his arrest.