Series of attacks on D.C. trail
Police are investigating a series of assaults on a popular walking trail. On Thursday, two teenagers attacked a man on the Metropolitan Branch Trail, one of five robberies and attacks on the trail since May.
The man was on his way home when he was confronted Thursday night. He spoke with ABC7 on the condition of anonymity.
“I was trying to walk past them and they said, ‘what do you have in your pockets?’” he said.
He claims that before he could get past, they swung at him, hitting him in the head. When he started to run away, they chased after him.
“The scariest moment was running through that meadow with them behind me, and being chased, sort of preyed on,” the victim said.
Police say they caught one teenager.
“I hate for something to happen to my kids,” said Louis Skipwith of Northeast D.C.
The Metropolitan Police Department has increased bike and car patrols along the 8-mile trail running from Union Station to Silver Spring. Police are warning residents to be on the lookout on the trail and take note of the street markers.
“It's like mile markers on the highway. If people when they're on the trail can know, ‘hey I just passed R street five minutes ago.’ It will at least help us out a little bit when something happens,” said Andy Solberg, MPD commander.
Among the other victims is a 61-year-old woman who was robbed, beaten and thrown to the ground. The perpetrators have been males in their late teens.
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