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U.S. Park Police are investigating a sexual assault that took place Wednesday morning along a running path in Rock Creek Park, FOX 5 reports.
A woman was jogging on a path along Beach Drive, in the area north of Joyce Road and south of Bingham Drive, at around 7 a.m. when she was grabbed and sexually assaulted by an unknown man. The assault reportedly took place near the Milkhouse Ford crossing.
The suspect is described as in his 30s, Hispanic, approximately 5'7" to 5'10" with a stocky build and wavy, black, shoulder-length hair. Police say he was wearing a white cotton t-shirt and jeans, and the victim told them she could smell alcohol on his breath.
The AP (via WTOP) notes that Park Police are now stepping up patrols in Rock Creek Park.
View Sexual Assault in Rock Creek Park in a larger map
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Women, I know no one will listen to me, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT RUN WITH HEADPHONES! That is the one common element (besides running alone) to 90% of attacks on female joggers.
guestguest- it's not that they won't listen, it's that they can't hear you with their headphones in.*
*analysis extrapolated from poll of individuals mugged in CoHi.
Sorry, I read both articles, and nowhere does it say the victim was wearing headphones.
Still - I'm surprised she couldn't just outrun the drunk once she was under attack.
Hmmm, interesting. Perhaps it was guestguest. Did you know that 86% of commenter identity thiefs stalk women?
Aw, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, mNomeNa. Forty percent of all people know that.
Why did they feel the need to mention that the assailant had black hair? This only serves to reinforce the negative stereotype that people with black hair get drunk at 7am.
Since I have blond hair does that mean I shouldn't be getting drunk at 6am? Because that's racist.
have you guys seriously not heard of bugmenot.com?
Thank you! He can have the identity, or the guest identity, as soon is I receive my confirmation email on my new identity.*
* tap tap tap, hello, DCist, what is the hold-up on my new identity confirmation email?
I'm going to guess he jumped out from behind a tree or something and grabbed her from behind. Too late to outrun anything, at that point :(
Men, I know no one will listen to me, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT RAPE WOMEN! Seriously, what's the crime: jogging with music or brutally assaulting someone? Come on now, guestguest.
+1
+2
shame on you. running in a popular park at 7am with or without headphones should be a SAFE thing to do. she's a victim, she did not bring it on herself.
I am in no way blaming her. Why is everyone freaking out because I suggest a commonsense measure to minimize the chance that you will get attacked? I would love to live in a world of rainbows and unicorns, where I don't have to lock my doors, but that is not reality. Read the Central Park Jogger's book if you have any doubts.
FYI-you cant run aware with headphones, despite what NIKE says. And no, you can't eliminate the possibilities of attack, but you can try to improve your odds.
It's funny, if you suggest that a mugging victim shouldn't have been walking around late at night w/ headphones on, people don't tend to use the "blaming the victim" line. Why react differently when gender enters the equation?
I think everyone agrees that rapists shouldn't rape, and muggers shouldn't mug. But they do. It's best to adapt your behavior accordingly.
I would be surprised to see an article about a man being mugged that had as its first comment an admonition to him to not be walking out at night alone with his headphones on--despite the fact that men are victims of violent crime as often as women.
That's a fair point.
But sexual assault is a more serious crime, so I think people are more inclined to speak up with ways to avoid it. I don't think that is placing blame on the victim, but you're right that we're less likely to do so when a male victim is involved.
Bottom line is, expressing our outrage isn't likely to change an attacker's behavior; the only option we have is for potential victims (i.e. all of us) to change thiers.
Regrettable, but that's the way it is.
that's actually VERY close to the park police station. a pretty ballsy fucktard assailant.
Grreeeaaattt, more shit to worry about. I run in the park about once a week, ironically to relieve stress. Not a run goes by that random questions don't flood my brain, like "Was this where Chandra Levy was attacked?", "When was the last time I checked behind me?" and "Are there any rocks or big sticks nearby in case I need to bash someone's head in?"
Whatever you do, DON'T carry a combination lock as a one-knuckle "brass knuckle." It would be both illegal and dangerous.
Also, "sap hats" filled with powdered lead are considered a concealed weapon and are both illegal and highly effective.
Finally, do NOT take lethal self defense courses as this would be taking the law into your own hands. The police are responsible for your protection. Not you.
I'm diggin' on the sap cap, Monkey. And since it's weighted, I get a better workout, right? Another problem solved!
Extended sap hat wear might give you a slight neck strain, but that can be remedied by removing the cap and hucking it at squirrels or cyclists who don't say "passing on the left."
Also, it's a great excuse to get a sexy, sexy neck rub from a fellow jogger. You can then sap him and proceed to stuff unconscious squirrels down his pants.
These are only suggestions.
Don't women carry mace anymore? Are you even allowed to purchase in the District?
I don't know about purchasing, but pepper spray from what I've read is legal as long as you register it with police.
You also need to disassemble the spray, leave the pepper in the kitchen, the nozzle in the bathroom, and the can firmly inserted into your anus. This is known as the "Jim Graham rider."
You can buy it mace at a lot of stores in dc (the hardware store on 17th St NW @ corcoran comes to mind) and you DO NOT need to register it with MPD.
Demonfafa and downtown rez are both right, but downtown rez is more right. Pepper spray is legal in DC, but the sale of pepper spray in DC must be registered with the police -- by the seller, not by the purchaser. If you buy some pepper spray but the seller doesn't register the sale with MPD, that's not your problem.
Great article Fox5:
Investigators believe another jogger or someone walking along the path may have seen a man fitting that description get into a car, catching a bus or entering a nearby home shortly after the assault.
The whole "Run Aware" movement, while in theory, well-intentioned is misguided. It is a) possible to have headphones on and be aware of your surroundings and b) lack of headphones does not mean a person will not get attacked.
It's a shame that some people will basically put the blame back on the victim.
Sorry, running with headphones makes you less aware. No one here blamed the victim. But to pretend that wearing headphones while running or biking does not reduce your ability to be aware of your surroundings is wrong. It's illegal to drive with headphones on for a reason.
I run alongside my pickup with my fully licensed retarded monkey behind the wheel. He's also brandishing a brand new slingshot with an incredible accuracy rating!
Good to see you finally got around to registering that monkey. I still say you'd be safer jogging on a treadmill. When's the last time someone got molested on a treadmill. I mean, on one that wasn't designed explicitly for that purpose.
Which reminds me, back on the treadmill, Liz.
Molly!
25 cents please...
Make me!
You wish!
And just so you know. I used to be a running coach in a major metro city. I coached hundreds of mostly female students. Almost all the stories i either read or heard firsthand started with. "I didn't hear him come up behind me". Just leave the headphones at home and focus on your running.
Yes, but if I focus on my running, I'll realize that I'm running, which is a tiring and boring form of exercise I do only for its fitness benefits. I need Rammstein belting out Visigoth metal if I'm going to run any further than the distance between my table and the bar during last call.
as much as I agree that running or biking with headphones in almost any situation is not a good idea (particularly while running alone).. I don't see why it was necessary to SHOUT it at us right off the bat when nobody said she was wearing headphones. yeah ok it's a good bit of advice but I think the dickwad rapist with alcohol on his breath at 7am is a much better target to start with. not hypothetical women who run with headphones on.
I doubt the dickwad rapists with alcohol on their breath at 7am (1) reads DCist and/or (2) will listen to someone telling them in a comment thread to not rape someone.
well with ljauss as an example, people who think it's ok to run with headphones aren't going to listen to someone on DCist yelling at them to stop. I don't care if the dickwad reads DCist, I'd just rather crusify him than girls who run alone with headphones.
ps maybe I'm touchy because I'm a girl who runs without headphones, And I have a friend who was sexually assaulted while walking alone but not wearing headphones, and when I hear a story like this the last thing I want to read in the comments section is a lecture for WOMEN not to wear headphones, as if that's really going to prevent sexual assault, as if women are the only ones who get attacked, as if the bigger problem here isn't that even that close to a police station, people aren't safe to go running in the light of day.
Okay, let's start with the premise that we all want fewer/no sexual assaults to happen.
On this particular platform, we have a readership that likely consists of very few jogging-path rapists relative to women who jog, many of those in rock creek park, and some of those wearing headphones. Let's examine the two courses of action you've laid out for us:
1) Crucifying the attacker on DCist message board: Zero impact due to low percentage of sexual assailant population in DCist readership, combined with sexual assailants' general resistance to societal dissapproval of sexual assault.
2) Recommending that joggers maximize awareness by not impairing their hearing w/ headphones (e.g. "crusifying [sic]...girls who run alone with headphones"): Potentially leads some of said joggers to run without headphones, thereby lowering risk of sexual assault.
We can choose both options, but only one could conceivably make any difference at all.
Makes sense. It's kinda like when a cop attends a community meeting to discuss crime. They always remind people not to leave stuff in their car and to be aware of surroundings, etc.
When MPD does this, it can't really help heal what has already happened, but it might conceivably help some newby from making a typical newby mistake.
Let's file "Don't run with headphones" in front of "Don't leave your dog tied up outside Whole Foods."
This ain't Kansas, Dot.
Note to all rapists: DON'T WEAR HEADPHONES!!! There...I think we're finished here.
ohhh you got me
I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you. I was wearing headphones.
Both Men and Women, I know no one will listen to me, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT ATTACK ANYONE WITH HEADPHONES ON WHILE DRUNK! That is the one common element (besides running alone) to 90% of unsuccessful attacks on male and female joggers. Leave the Miley Cyrus at home.
I think you should start with the premise that people like the sight of their own words on public forums.
I'm not going to argue that spreading the word about not wearing headphones is a bad thing to do. my only point is that guestguest's choice of words and CAPS LOCK were annoying and not terribly effective, and forgive me for suggesting that we expend any energy on doing anything but yelling at All These Readers on DCist who are females who run wearing headphones. I guess I didn't realize we were all here to change the world.
I shout because I care. I have some experience in this issue as noted above. More women than men are attacked when running When someone attacks a female jogger it is for something more serious than their shoes or ipod. Almost all are attacked from behind and most of them are wearing headphones. Sorry, if you think that is sexist, but dems the facts. I have been shouting about this issue for years among runners. Oh, and despite what Runners World says, you cannot run and be aware with headphones (they don't want to piss off their advertisers.)
You are adults and can make your own choices, get ticked off at me and bitch that life is unfair, but if I caused one person to assess their safety while running, then I could care less about what you think of me.
Oh yeah....DONT RUN WITH HEADPHONES
It took you 4 posts to 'only' tell us that you didn't like the way guestguest made his comment? It would seem your premise fits you pretty well.
What is 'sexual assault' in this case? If it is rape, why don't they say rape? If it implies she was groped-- still very disturbing, but a whole different class of crime. I've never understood the rationale of using this vague terminology about something so important.
The legal term rape has traditionally referred to forced vaginal penetration of a woman by a male assailant. Many states have now abandoned this concept in favor of the gender-neutral term sexual assault. The legal definition of criminal sexual assault is any genital, oral, or anal penetration by a part of the accused's body or by an object, using force or without the victim's consent. Criminal sexual assault, or rape, is often further stratified to include acquaintance rape, date rape, statutory rape, child sexual abuse, and incest. Such terms generally describe the age of the victim and her relationship to the abuser. Despite these various classifications of rape, it is important to remember that all are acts of rape.
From: American Medical Association. Strategies for the treatment and prevention of sexual assault. Chicago: AMA, 1995
Extracted from here
Molly!
American Apparel!! Headphones!!
I speak all growed-up and this is the thanks I get?
Mwaaah, love ya!!!
Take it to the back of the truck, you two
Also, nothing in the story implies other than assult of a sexual nature.