One man committed five sexual assaults in the Ballston area between mid-April and mid-March, police believe, an average of more than one each week. Then, after May 11, he stopped.
Police aren?t sure why. They continue to investigate, and have received a number of tips after releasing a composite sketch of the suspect on Monday, May 12. But detectives assigned to the case have not come closer to making an arrest.
?Right now I?ve had no developments to share with you on any of those cases,? said Matt Martin, a spokesperson for the Arlington Police Department.
In the suspect?s target area, though, residents say the mood is calm and most people have faith in police efforts. ?It?s a concern,? said Kate Wilson, ?But I feel that in general Arlington police are proactive.? Police officers arrested two people in April for attempted sexual crimes against Arlington women, a 35-year-old District man and an Arlington 17-year-old.
Despite the recent series of attacks, Benjamin Axleroad, president of the Ballston/Virginia Square Civic Association, said most people in the neighborhood are sticking to their daily routines. In fact, Axleroad says he has heard more complaints about other types of crime in the neighborhood, such as aggressive panhandling and loitering.
But when sex crimes occur, people are bound to look over their shoulder a bit more. ?It?s a little distressing to see that,? said Deandra Beck, who lives in a neighborhood of single-family homes on the outskirts of Ballston. ?It is a little more disconcerting to walk in the evening when it?s dark.?
POLICE HESITATE to speculate on why the attacks have stopped for the time being. ?That?s a question we get all the time,? said Martin, ?And I?m hesitant to answer it, because you never know.?
It?s possible that the suspect is still at large, and has even continued his pattern of attacks. Police might not know of more recent incidents, because sexual assault victims sometimes don?t report the crimes. The series of attacks might just have come to an abrupt halt, Martin said, if the perpetrator happened to have been arrested on unrelated charges.
?That sounds awfully optimistic to me,? said Wilson. Although she knows the suspect could still be at large, she isn?t taking any special precautions beyond normal safety measures. ?If the weather is nice, I still walk home from work,? she said. ?I still take cut-throughs.?
COUNTY STAFFERS , however, are looking into possible ways to address the situation in Ballston and elsewhere in the county.
Two of the five Ballston assaults took place on bike paths, and in unrelated incidents, two other women were groped on bike trails by unknown assailants on April 14 and 18. Also on April 14, police arrested the 17-year-old suspected of abducting and trying to rape a woman on the Four Mile Run bike trail off Columbia Pike.
Those incidents called into question the safety of the county?s trails. In response, at the May 17 County Board meeting, Board chair Paul Ferguson directed Ron Carlee, the County Manager, to study the possibility of increasing police patrols on trails and bike paths. A report is expected later this month.
Barbara Favola, the only woman on the five-person county board, also addressed the issue. ?I have never felt that Arlington is unsafe, but we may have to pay more attention to getting lights on the streets? and other basic safety precautions, she said.
SOME FREQUENT TRAIL users don?t think drastic changes are necessary. ?There?s only so much you can do with staff,? said Allen Muchnick, who serves on the county?s Bicycle Advisory Commission. A better solution may be to increase volunteer patrols already in place on some trails, he said.
Wilson was also skeptical of how effective police patrols would be on secluded trails. ?If it?s a token response,? she said. ?I would rather see them using funding in other, tangible ways.?
On the other hand, said Beck, ?Any amount of increased patrols are welcome.? But raising awareness of safety hazards could be just as effective, she said.
women using trails, especially for walkers or joggers, should take some precautions, said Muchnick. ?Women joggers who are using the trail need to be aware of their surroundings, and shouldn?t jog with headphones.?
But at this point, Muchnick sees no reason to avoid those areas. ?Trails are good community resources,? he said. ?The more people use them, the safer they are.? Muchnick said.