Brookland neighborhood blog stop, blog and roll points to a pretty horrifying crime story we missed: A woman was sexually assaulted and beaten inside her basement apartment on the 900 block of Perry Place NE Friday night, and then subsequently driven by the suspect to several ATMs around the neighborhood and forced to withdraw money. The assault occurred as the woman was entering her apartment — she was grabbed from behind, forced inside, beaten and raped.

This is the kind of story that makes single women living in D.C. especially sick to their stomachs. It’s also not the first of its kind this summer — in late July, a woman living on the 900 block of P Street NW was sexually assaulted and robbed by a man who broke into her home at night.

It’s easy to feel helpless about what you can do to prevent these kinds of crimes from happening, and easier still to feel terrified by the thought of a violent and active sexual predator being out on our streets. The MPD has a section on safety tips on their web site with common sense tips on how to reduce your risk of being sexually assaulted, including not walking alone in isolated areas, not walking home alone if you’re under the influence of alcohol, and wearing clothing that would allow you to run easily. They also offer this rather sobering piece of advice: “If the assailant has a weapon, you may have no choice but to submit. Do whatever it takes to survive.” It’s sickening even to consider. No woman ever wants to imagine that this might be true. To the two women who survived these recent attacks, DCist salutes your bravery and hopes these monsters are caught immediately.

Photo by AlbinoFlea