WASHINGTON — Police in Arlington County are investigating whether three sexual assaults reported in the last two weeks could be related.
Twice this past weekend women about the age of 30 were grabbed and sexually assaulted in the county. Police say the assaults are similar to another case reported a week earlier. In an unrelated case, a woman was attacked by the man who drove her home, whom she believed to be a driver for Uber.
Friday evening, a woman was attacked as she jogged on the W&OD Trail in the Glencarlyn Park area. She was grabbed from behind and thrown down on the trail. A second woman was attacked Saturday night on North Pershing Drive in the Buckingham neighborhood. Police say the second victim bit her attacker after he touched her. He then ran off.
Police tell WTOP the two weekend cases are similar to another attack on July 25 in the Courthouse area. A 25-year-old woman was walking home from a bar when she was pulled into some nearby bushes and tried to grab her pants. She kicked her attacker to get away. Police called the case an attempted rape and abduction and released a sketch of her attacker.
Investigators say it is possible the three cases could be linked because of similar details and suspect descriptions.
Separately, a 29-year-old woman trying to take an Uber home to Arlington from a night out in D.C. tells police she was sexually assaulted by her driver in Alcova Heights around 4 a.m. Sunday after an off-the-app ride. She tells police the car she climbed into had an Uber sticker and that she was attacked when she couldn’t pay cash.
Police believe the woman got in the wrong car but are working on the premise that her driver sometimes works for Uber.
WTOP’s Max Smith contributed to this report.
