WASHINGTON – Four women were attacked within a few hours and a few miles of each other early Sunday in Northwest. Police have arrested a man in two of the attacks, but investigators are still looking for two other suspects.
“The volume of incidents is deeply troubling,” says Patrick Kennedy, the chair of Foggy Bottom’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
Police arrested Mustapha Kone, 46, on charges of intent to commit first degree sexual abuse, making threats, kidnapping and simple assault shortly after two of the attacks.
Kone is accused of grabbing one of the victims and trying to pull her into some bushes before she was able to get free. A second woman was assaulted nearby. Both women were attacked about 3:30 a.m. near the intersection of 24th and I streets Northwest in Foggy Bottom, according to D.C. police.
Within hours, two more sexual assaults were reported in adjacent neighborhoods.
At approximately 3:45 a.m. a woman was sexually assaulted inside a car in the area of Dupont Circle. The victim tells police four men were in what she describes as a silver sedan when it happened. The woman describes her attacker as a man with dreadlocks.
At approximately 6 a.m. in Georgetown a woman was sexually assaulted near the intersection of 33rd Street and Prospect Place. That victim tells police her attacker was Hispanic, about 5-foot-7, clean shaven and wearing a black leather jacket.
“We largely live in a very safe area, but we’re still in a big city,” Kennedy says.
Busy neighborhoods such as Foggy Bottom, Georgetown and Dupont Circle have around-the-clock foot traffic that generates visibility, helping keep pedestrians relatively safe at all hours, Kennedy says. Still, he counsels vigilance.
“There’s no substitute for being cautious and being aware of your surroundings, and being aware of who you’re out with,” he says.
D.C. police have offered rewards of up to $1,000 for information leading to the attackers in the Dupont Circle and Georgetown sexual assaults. Tips can be called-in to 202-727-9099, or sent by text message to 50411.
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