Prince Of Petworth » Blog Archive » Yikes – Uncool “Kicking” Incident Outside Columbia Heights Metro

Yikes – Uncool “Kicking” Incident Outside Columbia Heights Metro

01 July 2009 10:30 AM | By Prince Of Petworth in Uncategorized

From the CH Listserv:

“This morning around 9:40 a.m. a coworker was walking north on 14th Street near the east side entrance to the CH Metro. As she passed the crowded bus stop at that location a man “sidekicked” her hard in the shin and then turned around as if nothing had happened. She confronted him and he ignored her. Others saw the incident and called the police. One man followed the “kicker” as he left the area heading north on 14th and turning east on Kenyon. The Metro Express newspaper man said that the same man had been there the day before and had kicked another woman.

If this happens to you, please report it to the police, and know that it’s part of a series of aberrant behavior by this man.”

Anyone else hear of this happening? I don’t know why, but it bothers me even more when incidents like this occur at 9:40 in the morning. Sounds like we need more heroes like this one.

01 July 2009 10:54 AM | Nita Said:

Something similar happened to my sister in Boston. A man shoved her into shrubbery and walked away. After picking herself off the ground she tailed him for blocks while on the phone with police and they eventually caught up with her and arrested the man. He may have been mentally disturbed, and it really shook her up. (I’m not suggesting anyone do what she did; my sister was in a relatively safe part of the city and tailing the man did not lead her into unsafe areas).

01 July 2009 10:59 AM | Jeannie Said:

I’m the girl who got kicked. The police didn’t show up, typical. Yes, if this happens to you, please report it. Thanks.

01 July 2009 11:00 AM | Christina Said:

Holy smokes. That’s a great way to dislocate someone’s knee. I hope someone catches this guy.

01 July 2009 11:13 AM | CH Resident Said:

I have seen all kinds of dumb behavior around the Metro Station, mostly stupid kids yelling stuff at random people or throwing random objects (like cereal) around.

Hilarious that the cops didn’t show up. They need to remember that the people that actually pay taxes in DC are the ones who are paying their salaries.

01 July 2009 11:15 AM | Neener Said:

I read an interview with a rapist about 20 years ago who said that he started by publicly humiliating women and then sort of touching and grabbing them and running. I am sure this is the first step in the above guy’s psychosis.

Is it time for Red Berets?

01 July 2009 11:18 AM | Jamie Said:

A homeless woman tried to push me into the street in Dupont Circle many years ago while I was waiting (inside the circle) for the light to change to cross. Same thing. Freaked the hell out of me, because she shoved me from behind and I could easily have fallen into traffic. She was obviously disturbed. This isn’t a sign of the times, it’s just a sad situation.

01 July 2009 11:28 AM | Anonymous Said:

Sorry to say, but you probably would have gotten more satisfaction out of taking a brick to the guy’s head than waiting around for the lazy ass police in this town.

01 July 2009 11:36 AM | Thrifty DC Cook Said:

Jamie, that has been a fear of mine for a long time. I’m always worried about standing too close to the curb in case I get knocked into traffic.

01 July 2009 12:02 PM | Jackie Said:

I’m more worried that someone will push me on to the metro tracks then I am worried about being pushed into the streets.

I’ve definitly ran in to kids throwing rocks at cars and people. That wasn’t fun.

01 July 2009 12:02 PM | MandarinZazz Said:

next time this happens to someone, take out your cellphone and get a good picture of the d-bag…post some flyers in the neighborhood.

01 July 2009 12:33 PM | anonymous Said:

I was pushed into traffic in Georgetown by Lefty when the light turned green and I was blocking here.

Anyone else here remember Lefty?

I had no idea who she was when I was pushed, let me tell you.

Good times, good times.

(She was a black female racist skinhead gang leader)

01 July 2009 12:51 PM | EdTheRed Said:

@anon 12:33: Oh yeah, *that* Lefty! Whatever happened to her, anyways?

01 July 2009 1:14 PM | Anonymous Said:

Never heard of Lefty, but what happened to the lady that used to hold up the loco signs about Roger Rabbit outside of the Banana Republic (maybe 8-10 years ago)?

01 July 2009 1:40 PM | Golden Silence Said:

I wonder if it’s this guy who was featured on Holla Back DC, who was randomly attacking women at Dupont Circle:

http://hollabackdc.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/dupont-circle-attacker/

In that story, the man was caught and arrested, but released.

01 July 2009 1:53 PM | BlaketheMegalomaniac Said:

If I see someone assaulting (however minor the assualt) someone else, especially a female, I’m making a citizen’s arrest. I would also venture to say I’d be very liberal with the manner in which I take and hold the perp down (like we see most law enforcement doing via their cruiser cams). Take back the Streets!

01 July 2009 2:22 PM | ScottahB Said:

This is fucking ridiculous. Seriously, I have no idea why anybody in their right mind would do this. He probably also put tacks on Jim Graham’s office chair and drew a penis on the side of an idling H4.

01 July 2009 2:28 PM | Anonymous Said:

Please look at the link posted by GS. There is a very clear photo of the guy and the incident description sounds similar.

01 July 2009 2:56 PM | Golden Silence Said:

Does anyone have a description of the CH attacker? The MO sounds too similar to the Holla Back DC link I posted.

I have a feeling this guy has mental problems, randomly attacking women then acting as if nothing happened. If this is the same person, why is he allowed to continue freely roaming the streets?

01 July 2009 2:57 PM | Anonymous Said:

I can’t say this odd behavior is limited to attacks on women. A few months ago I was crossing U Street at 13th in the middle of the day (fairly busy) and a man crossing to the opposite side made as if to punch me in the head, then stopped just short. He then had a terrified look on his face and ran away. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, other than this guy was nuts. Now I wonder if he ever did work up the courage to strike someone?

01 July 2009 3:13 PM | Golden Silence Said:

Holla Back DC just linked this story to their site, so if someone from the CH incident recognizes him in the photo from the Dupont one, we can get closer to getting this man off the streets.

01 July 2009 3:23 PM | Anonymous Said:

Why would people not beat the shit out of him if they saw this? If a white dude did this in a black neighborhood to a black chick, he would be dead right now. Pathetic. At least carry mace or something folks.

01 July 2009 3:35 PM | ontarioroader Said:

Last I heard Lefty was a UPS driver in PG. That gal was a menace.

Back to this incident – this just drives home the point that you’re responsible for your own safety. All the police can do is provide an [occasional] visual deterrent and investigate/write reports after an incident. Just the way it works here.

01 July 2009 4:05 PM | Nate Said:

I read about this article in the Wall Street Journal. Do you guys think it would work?
http://www.post-trib.com/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=CzBk85YTufXjmB8WpIbqfvm3tCz1GpFlCnUPx7CzCGBhQJdVsOF&bbParentWidgetId=B8j4te2LpaP5zF2wdOIaNTqV

01 July 2009 4:16 PM | Buck Turgidson Said:

Another consequence of the miserable state of public mental health care in this country.

Right about the time we started routinely encountering mentally ill people sprawled out on the sidewalk, you’d think we would have started demanding a public policy solution to this problem. But no, we just learned to step around.

This problem is *way* bigger than one random dude. 30% of our prison inmates are mentally ill; it’s just about the only form of “mental health care” we provide to the poor.

01 July 2009 5:51 PM | Anonymous Said:

Ummmm … how about a physical description of the assailant so that the rest of us can keep an eye out for him? Sure, next time snap a cellphone picture and post it all over the Internet, but if this has happened more than once and even the Express guy knows about him, is it really that much to communicate the basics of this dude’s appearance?

01 July 2009 9:21 PM | Brooke Said:

I hope they catch this dude quickfast. Last year when my husband and I were waiting for a bus on 16th St. in front of our apartment, a woman came up to us and kicked my husband in the leg. We followed her and asked her why she did that. She said she “just didn’t like the way we looked.” We called the cops. They came in 10 seconds. I hope they can respond like that in CH. Nobody deserves to be assaulted/violated like that.

01 July 2009 10:06 PM | Redhead Said:

Amen, Buck Turgidson, Amen.

01 July 2009 10:51 PM | Anonymous Said:

Reason No. 390 why not to live in Columbia Heights.

In fact, I think this blog should be renamed “Reasons Not to Live in Columbia Heights,” since that’s all it pretty much documents these days. Admittedly, there’s a lot of material.

02 July 2009 12:46 AM | ElevenIrving Said:

I don’t understand why the people involved in this incident haven’t checked back here and verified the attacker’s identity. They could at least describe him.

02 July 2009 9:31 AM | District Limerick Said:

There’s been a new grad mass migration
And the green line’s the hot new location
With so many fights
In Columbia Heights
You’d do well to avoid the train station

It’s unlikely that you will be slain
In truth, it’ll be more mundane
As Thursday begins
You’ll be kicked in the shins
As you make your way onto the train

02 July 2009 12:18 PM | Golden Silence Said:

Not to sound like a broken record (with many other posts asking the same thing), but could you please give a physical description of the kicker? Also, please check the link I posted upthread to see if maybe it’s the same guy who was doing the same thing at Dupont Circle back in April (the photo linked there is crystal clear).

This is the only way to get fools like these off the streets.

02 July 2009 12:26 PM | Anonymous Said:

A hipster went to Target for tube socks
From his new condo it was just a few blocks
Thinking this is so good,
I love my new ‘hood!
Until he was attacked by kids throwing rocks

02 July 2009 1:29 PM | WriteItUp Said:

If 911 or police fail to respond to a call, you should write to them and complain about that failure. It’s important for people to stay on 911 and the Office of Unified Communications if we’re ever going to see results. It’s also important to demand that police contact you and file an incident report–and don’t let them tell you that you have to go to a station, you don’t, they can take the info over the phone.

Without this assault being filed by police, guess what happens if police ever do catch the guy? They’ll have only that present assault, no record of previous incidents to to connect to the creep, and voila, you have the prosecutors saying they don’t have enough to make it worth their time to put this guy through the court system.

And when people let 911 slide, or crimes go unreported, police get to claim lower crime stats than really exist. Your ‘hood gets shortchanged for coverage, which is based on stats.

Write an email to 911’s director (Google their webpage) and your local police district commander, and your councilman.

02 July 2009 5:34 PM | Anonymous Said:

Channel 5 is doing a story on this now. Oh god!~

02 July 2009 5:56 PM | Jeannie Said:

Sorry for not responding sooner. I just looked at the photo and yes, this is the same man who kicked me, except now he doesn’t have a beard. Beware if you all see him. He is a disturbed man.

I have been in contact with the police and have filed a report. They have identified the “kicker” and I’m working with them to take care of this situation. I’ll keep you all posted on what happens with that.

Thanks for your help.

02 July 2009 6:51 PM | Nikki Said:

I saw the kicker harrass people in front of the metro last night around 8pm!! I was waiting for a friend to come up from underground and I was standing under the awning of the BB&T atm. The guy kicked and grabbed at a man who had some fancy head phones on. The guy tried to grab the chord in order to rip the head phones off. The victim got on the next bus that was heading north on 14th street. the next bus that came, a woman got off and the kicker went up and ran into her with his bike 2x, clearly on purpose. He then loaded his bike on the front rack and got on the bus, I can’t remember what bus he got on. This is so clear to me because I was so SHOCKED to see this happening in broad day light (we’ll it was a little dark and the rain had just let up). But there were people everywhere! Nobody yelled at the kid to fuck off and I just stared at him. He saw me looking too and glared right back at me, which made me kind of scared. I was thinking of calling the cops, but I knew he wouldn’t stay long enough. I will call them now, because I stared this guy DOWN. I could definitely ID the little twat.

02 July 2009 11:02 PM | Golden Silence Said:

Really? I tried to find a link for it but couldn’t find it. If this is true, I’m glad this is getting news attention.

The power of the media, I swear. With the story being told here and the photo of the guy at Holla Back DC, this guy will be off the streets sooner than we think.

03 July 2009 8:22 AM | Anonymous Said:

Sadly, Golden Silence, I fear that nothing will happen. Even if the police arrest him, he’ll be back shortly, perhaps in a different neighborhood, as he was after being apprehended in Dupont (in April). Maybe he’ll be “sentenced” to court-mandated counseling sessions, which he won’t attend.

This guy is a threat to public safety. What else can be done to get him off the streets?

03 July 2009 9:06 AM | WriteItUp Said:

You can ask for an order that he not be permitted within a certain area. And if he violates that, it’s another charge against him.

Have your ANC write up a request that echos yours. Ask neighbors to email the police, and a contact in the prosecutor’s office, demanding he be prosecuted. Place an emphasis on him attacking females: does the US Attorney’s office want to be blasted for not prosecuting a serial assaulter of women?

Keep the pressure on.

03 July 2009 4:43 PM | Golden Silence Said:

Found a news link to this:

Police Hunt Columbia Heights Kicking Bandit

08 October 2009 2:02 PM | Golden Silence Said:

Sadly, Golden Silence, I fear that nothing will happen. Even if the police arrest him, he’ll be back shortly, perhaps in a different neighborhood, as he was after being apprehended in Dupont (in April).

It seems like you’re right. A recent post at Holla Back DC said that this guy was kicking women at the Wheaton Mall (and he got away again that time as well). When will this stop?