The Metropolitan Police says that the recent rash of sidewalk robberies is probably the work of independent thieves and are not necessarily connected. People living near Dupont Circle have been on edge since a popular waiter was shot and killed early Monday morning on R Street. The Post reports that more cops are on patrol in the neighborhood. But the street crime continues.

Another attempted robbery took place about 12:15 a.m. yesterday at 19th and S streets NW, police said. The victim escaped unharmed and did not surrender any money. The assailant got into a white Buick driven by another man and rode off, police said. The victim flagged down an officer, who was in the neighborhood because of the increased law enforcement presence, and a pursuit began.

But one advisory neighborhood commissioner, Robert Halligan, says that MPD had left the area vulnerable, saying thieves “think of us as big, fat wallets walking around without guns on us.”