Man convicted in Capitol Hill fake taxi assaults faces life sentence for South Park rape

A serial predator previously convicted of luring women into his vehicle from Capitol Hill now faces life in prison without parole following a violent abduction and rape in South Park.

King County prosecutors charged Orhan Najaar, 58, with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape on Tuesday, citing a pattern of posing as a driver to abduct and assault women.

KING 5 reported here on the charges and report Najaar was ordered held on $2 million bail.

Prosecutors say the latest attack occurred in November 2024, just weeks after Najaar’s release from prison, when he allegedly forced an injured woman into his car at knifepoint, drove her to her apartment, and repeatedly assaulted and beat her. A tool bag left behind linked the suspect to the crime.

Prosecutors say the assault mirrors Najaar’s prior predatory offenses on Capitol Hill, which qualify the case as his potential third strike under Washington law.

In 2008, Najaar posed as a cab driver outside a Capitol Hill bar, abducting an intoxicated woman and raping her before she escaped in his car. In August 2012, he offered another woman a ride home from Capitol Hill, held her captive at his residence, and raped her, eventually serving prison time after fleeing to Austria and facing extradition.

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