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NBC4 reports that a woman was assaulted and raped last night at Beach Drive and Connecticut Ave. in Rock Creek Park. The woman was jogging in a wooded area between 7:45 and 9:30 p.m. when a man grabbed her from behind, dragged her into the woods and raped and physically assaulted her. The woman tried to flag down a passing motorist for help, but was unsuccessful, so she went home, at which point she was driven to the hospital. She remains there today for treatment to trauma to her face, neck and shoulders, in addition to the sexual assault. As always, reports of attacks like this should be taken very seriously. Be vigilant and extra aware of your surroundings. And if you have any information the police may find useful and catching this man, please call 240-773-5070.
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We went to the Macy's at 12th & G this morning for the Black Friday morning specials. There was a sh
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That's awful. I run through there at least once a week, and it's not even as secluded as they make it sound. The path never gets more than 20 feet or so away from Beach Drive, and there are usually cars or bikes going by. That tunnel under Connecticut is bad news, though. It's always dark, and depending on the recent weather, it usually smells like sewage and is filled with mud. It freaks me out. During the day. And I'm a dude. I noticed Sunday that they just put in overhead lights, I presume to prevent this very sort of thing from happening.
I guess the next time I pass a woman running I'll need to say "On your left, and I'm not trying to sexually assault you" to avoid being pepper sprayed. Not that I really could blame her.
Folks, take precautions. There are too many crazy people out here. Don't go jogging alone at night.
just to clarify, this happened in kensington, not where beach and connecticut meet near woodley park in the district
@Tim - "I don't know officer. I heard him mutter something about sexually assaulting me and I thought it would be best to pepper spray him...just in case."
Does anyone else think that it's f*ed up that nobody would stop when the woman tried to flag down a car?
@westminster - I know there's a term for this, but in general (and in recent memory in particular) humans aren't always apt to race to the rescue.
In fairness, from reading the Channel 4 article, it sounds like there just weren't any cars around that time of night, not that drivers wouldn't stop. So this may not be a case of the bystander effect/Genovese syndrome.
Maybe it's because I've been rereading Watchmen lately, but part of me wants to go round up a few LDS missionaries from the temple and get a posse together. We could find this guy and string him up by his sacred undergarments.
The bystander effect (or the Kitty Genovese syndrome), I think.
Okay, I feel a bit better to hear that it was due to there being a lack of cars to flag down.
In instances where there are bystanders witnessing someone in distress, DC has both amazed me at time (citizen's arrest of the man who was sexually assaulting women downtown) and sickened me at times (stories from clients who have been assaulted both verbally and physically in public spaces by abusive partners while people gawk from a distance)
Just read through the "comments" section of the NBC4 report, faith in humanity lost once again.
though there have been recent examples of vigilent bystanders too westminster, [hyperlink to Novak hitting homeless man DCist story here if I knew how]
Westminster: ditto on the loss of faith in humanity, where most of the comments are a variation on the following:
"No woman deserves to be beaten/raped/attacked/violated, but I'm gonna go ahead and blame her anyway, mistakenly assuming the opening clause to my opinion portrays me something other than the misogynistic, clueless a-hole that I am."