SAN FRANCISCO — A 37-year-old San Mateo County man dubbed the Ride-share Rapist by police has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting four women, police said Friday.

Detectives took Orlando Vilchez Lazo into custody Thursday outside his residence in the unincorporated part of the county, two days after police say detectives connected Lazo’s DNA to forensic evidence gathered from one of the assaults, police said.

He is suspected of rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object, assault with intent to commit rape, kidnapping and false imprisonment, police said. One of the attacks happened five years ago, police said.

Lazo also is suspected of committing the rapes while under the guise of being a ride-share driver, police said. He remained in custody Friday night.

According to police, detectives began investigating Lazo closely in February after linking him to two separate sexual assaults, one in February and one in 2013. In both instances, the women who survived entered cars outside bars that they believed to be from an unspecified ride-share service. The suspect then took them to an unspecified location, where the attacks occurred.

Detectives connected Lazo to a third similar sexual assault, this one in May, and the department formed a task force that worked closely with the FBI and the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center. Soon after, the crime lab within that task force connected Lazo to a fourth assault in June, again involving a ride-share victim, police said.

The department responded by conducting weekend surveillance through June and July on city areas heavy with ride-sharing. On July 7, an investigator from the Special Victims Unit noticed suspicious behavior from a ride-share driver and stopped the car. Police said they identified Lazo as the driver and collected a DNA sample that matched the June assault. Police believe the DNA will connect Lazo to all four rapes.

Police are working with ride-share companies to determine whether Lazo has ever been a documented driver, and they urged any other women who may have been a victim to contact the Special Victims Unit at 415-553-1521 or by leaving an anonymous tip at 415-575-4444. Tips also can be texted to TIP411 with the text message beginning SFPD.

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