One of the horrible stabbings occurred in Bloomingdale on the unit block of Adams Street NW. You can see the first post on this topic here.
By
Annys Shin and Clarence Williams, Published: June 22
A
20-year-old District man has been charged in a series of random stabbings of
women in and around Petworth and Bloomingdale that unnerved residents of the
two rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods.
Garey
Jones III, 20, of Northwest was charged Saturday with assault with a deadly
weapon in an attack Wednesday night in the 1100 block of Allison Street NW,
just off Georgia Avenue and north of the Petworth Metro station. Police believe
that he is responsible for three similar attacks, including one June 13 in Bloomingdale.
Police
arrested Jones on Friday after two detectives in an unmarked car spotted him
acting erratically near Seventh Street NW and Sherman Circle around 11 p.m.
Jones matched the description given by victims, police said. After questioning
him, the detectives obtained a warrant to search his home, where they found
clothing that they said linked him to the four attacks. Police continue to
investigate, and more charges are possible.
“I
feel confident we have the person responsible for these attacks,” Police Chief
Cathy L. Lanier said Saturday, just days after warning women in Petworth not to
walk alone. “I think the danger has passed. People can relax.”
Police
don’t have a motive, but Jones’s mother told investigators that her son is
under a doctor’s care for a mental disorder. Authorities seized his medication,
which is commonly prescribed for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, according
to court documents.
Jones
appeared Saturday afternoon before D.C. Superior Court Judge Richard Ringell,
who placed him under “preventative detention,” which allows authorities to hold
him for three days without bail. He has a preliminary hearing set for Monday.
The
assaults occurred within the past seven weeks late at night and early in the
morning as the women walked by themselves.
The
assailant approached the women from behind, grabbed them and stabbed them with
a sharp object before running away.
There
was no clear motive. None of the women were robbed. Nor did they suffer
life-threatening injuries, police said.
The
women appeared to be chosen at random, police said, reminding some residents of
another spate of random attacks in Petworth a year ago by a hammer-wielding
assailant.
The
arrest came on the heels of a public appeal by police for help catching the
suspect.
Residents
welcomed news of Jones’s arrest, including several who live on the street where
the first attack took place in May, about four blocks from where police spotted
him Friday.
“I’m
very relieved,” said one longtime resident who gave only her first name, Diane.
“I heard the lady screaming. It was very loud. We didn’t know what had
happened.”
“It’s
probably the most disturbing thing that has happened so far,” said Will Starck,
26, who about a year ago moved into a group house off Georgia Avenue NW, not
far from the site of Wednesday’s attack.
He
said he often worries about his girlfriend, Caitlin Crowley, 24, walking at
night to and from the Metro station. She said she generally feels safe in
Petworth but that the attacks had made her a little nervous.
“In
a situation like this, in a neighborhood in something of a transition, the
disparity between how safe the males feel and how safe the females feel becomes
obvious,” Crowley said.
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