A 27-year-old South Salt Lake rideshare driver accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a young woman during a 2025 Lyft ride has had his felony charges dismissed, more than a year after he was first arrested. Alejandro Rendon Segovia faced first-degree felony counts of aggravated kidnapping and object rape, along with a second-degree felony obstruction of justice charge, stemming from an incident that occurred overnight on Aug. 30, 2025, in the Salt Lake Valley.
The case had been winding through Utah's 3rd District Court since September 2025, when Salt Lake County prosecutors formally filed the charges, according to KSL News. Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Alberto Becerra filed a motion to dismiss the case on Oct. 19, and the court approved that dismissal the following day. Court documents cited in the dismissal noted that Segovia had completed a court-monitored home confinement program without a single violation and had complied with all pretrial supervision requirements throughout his release.
What Happened the Night of the Alleged Assault
According to charging documents, a woman ordered a Lyft ride early in the morning of Aug. 30, 2025, for her 19-year-old cousin, intending for the ride to travel from the woman's home in Murray to the cousin's home in Sandy. The rideshare app indicated the trip had arrived at the cousin's residence at approximately 4:18 a.m., but a doorbell camera at the Sandy address detected no movement at that time, and police could not locate the cousin or any sign she had been dropped off nearby. An emergency ping to her phone came back unsuccessful.
Prosecutors alleged Segovia instead drove the cousin around the valley, from Salt Lake City to South Jordan, making two parking-lot stops along the way. The cousin told police she asked Segovia to take her home after one of those stops, at which point he allegedly began yelling and hitting himself in the face while telling her she was like other girls, according to charging documents. She said she grew scared and asked him to let her out of the vehicle.
Charging documents further allege that Segovia swerved on the highway while yelling in Spanish and slapping himself in the face and chest. The cousin exited the vehicle once he slowed down and walked the rest of the way home, arriving by 8:20 a.m. — roughly four hours and about a mile short of her original destination, police said. She was later taken to a local hospital, where doctors found bruises and scrapes on her legs, inner thigh and genital area.
Arrest, Charges and a Police Appeal for More Victims
Segovia was taken into custody a few days after the incident. The following day, Sandy Police Sgt. Greg Moffitt made a public appeal through KSL, asking any other rideshare or food-delivery passengers who may have had similar experiences with Segovia to come forward, reflecting investigators' belief that his gig-economy work could have put other riders at risk.
Prosecutors raised concerns about evidence collection. In court filings, they noted that because Segovia regularly rotated through rental vehicles for his driving work and returned them often, physical evidence inside those cars could be cleaned after the vehicles went back to rental agencies.
Dismissed Without Prejudice — Not the Same as Cleared
The dismissal applied to all three charges and was entered without prejudice, meaning prosecutors retain the authority to refile the case at a later date if new evidence emerges. Under Utah criminal procedure, a dismissal without prejudice differs from an acquittal. A case dismissed without prejudice is not automatically eligible for expungement; a defendant must wait until the statute of limitations expires or obtain the prosecutor's agreement, according to Stone River Law.
Had the case gone to trial and ended in conviction, Segovia would have faced severe mandatory prison exposure. Under Utah Code § 76-5-302 and § 76-5-402.2, first-degree felony convictions for aggravated kidnapping and object rape carry alternative minimum sentences of 15 years to life, reducible in specified circumstances to 10 or six years to life, according to the law firm Brown, Bradshaw & Moffat.
Rideshare Safety Gaps Highlighted by the Case
The ride was booked by a relative rather than the passenger herself. Lyft offers location updates and safety features for teen rides, according to PCMag.
Nationally, major rideshare platforms receive thousands of annual reports involving non-consensual contact or sexual assault. Salt Lake County has seen more than one such case in recent months: Hoodline previously reported on another local Lyft driver accused of sexual abuse during a ride earlier this year.
For now, the dismissal closes the active prosecution against Segovia, but it leaves the door open. With the case dismissed without prejudice, Salt Lake County prosecutors could still bring the aggravated kidnapping, object rape and obstruction charges again if new evidence surfaces.
