SHERMAN OAKS : Man Gets 17 Years for Raping 2 Women

A Los Angeles man was sentenced to 17 years in state prison Thursday for raping two Van Nuys women after drugging them with grape drinks he had laced with Valium.

Joe Raul Mendoza, 35, pleaded guilty last month to kidnaping for sexual purposes and rape by the use of drugs in two incidents last September.

In a written confession given to police after his arrest, Mendoza said he picked up the two women outside Sherman Oaks employment offices under the pretense of offering them work as domestics.

Mendoza told both victims, who were 23 and 24 at the time, that he worked as an exterminator and that his first name was Joe.

Mendoza stopped at a convenience store and bought grape juice, which he dosed with Valium that he had stolen from homes where he had been applying pest-control chemicals, according to evidence in the case.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gloria Maria Mas complimented the work of police detectives, who began the investigation only knowing they were looking for a man named Joe who worked as an exterminator.

After reviewing records at various pest control firms in the San Fernando Valley, investigators obtained driver’s license photos that were shown to the two victims. Both women picked Mendoza out of a photo lineup.