ARLINGTON
Women Stalked by Man With Plastic Bag
By Daniela Deane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 31, 2007; Page B03
He tries to throw a plastic bag over women's heads as they walk alone at night in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor -- he's done it at least three times -- but each time the women have fought him off, Arlington County police said yesterday.
An earlier attack also may be the work of the same man, who approached a 32-year-old woman from behind and groped her, this time without the bag, police said. In each case, the suspect has fled.
Arlington police are encouraging women not to walk alone at night. If they must, police are urging them to stay in well-lighted areas and be aware of their surroundings. They are also encouraging any woman who is attacked to draw attention to herself.
"They should yell and scream or blow a whistle," Berke said. "They should not be on their cellphone or listening to their iPods, unaware of their surroundings in the wee hours of the morning."
The latest plastic bag attack occurred at 2:27 a.m. Tuesday in the 1100 block of North Vernon Street, when a 25-year-old woman walking down the street heard someone running up behind her. She turned and saw a man reaching with a plastic bag toward her face, police said. The woman screamed and pushed the man away, and he ran off.
"To say this has a sexual motivation is still just speculation," said Lt. Brian Berke, commander of the homicide/robbery unit of the Arlington police. "He's not communicating, and he's taking off."
The Tuesday attack came less than three weeks after another woman, 22, walking alone at 2:38 a.m. May 10 in the 4000 block of Washington Boulevard, experienced the same thing.
About a month earlier, April 16, in the 1400 block of North Nash Street, a 35-year-old woman was walking to her car about 11:30 p.m., when she was attacked from behind by a man who placed a plastic bag over her face and tried to pull her backward.
In the first attack, which occurred March 5 on North Key Boulevard, no plastic bag was involved. Police think it could be related, however, because of the victim's description of her attacker and the way he approached her. That incident happened at 9:45 p.m.
Police don't necessarily advocate fighting back, however. "We don't know what's going to trigger this guy," Berke said.
Berke said this is the first time in recent memory that Arlington police have dealt with a plastic-bag attacker, although there have been other such incidents across the country. "It's not like this person invented it," he said.
The suspect is described as a black male, in his late 20s to early 30s, 5-foot-10 to 6 feet tall, with a medium build, wearing dark clothing.
