These type of incidents seem to happen with some frequency and the perp is also frequently described as a white, Hispanic male. I can't tell if it's the same guy attacking again and again or what.

I know this area of the trail and it always made my spine tingle, even though I was never alone. There are several sections of Four Mile that just are not safe. Period.

I have a treadmill for early morning or late runs, but try to run in broad daylight as much as possible. HOWEVER, you will not find me on Four Mile or most other trails. I tend to jog on street sidewalks where I am easily seen by other motorists and have an easy escape route if something happens. I also tend to jog the Iwo Jima trail onto the Mall quite a bit and consider it be about the safest part of any trail around.

Earlier this week, I was jogging in my neighborhood in McLean, and decided to dart down a street where I saw some new homes being built. As soon as I did it, I was upset with myself. I put myself on a side street, with no easy escape route and lots of construction workers. ack! Anyway, I decided gawking at the new homes wasn't worth my personal safety and turned around.

It is awful that women have to constantly be aware of everything in the environment, however, it is necessary. I feel absolutely awful for the woman attacked.

Additional info:

The attack happened around 11:00 a.m. According to new details released by police, a woman was walking down the trail in the area of Glencarlyn Park when a man approached her from behind. He motioned for the woman to get off the trail and walk into the woods, police said, but she refused and screamed for help.

The man then used a knife to stab the victim three times in the neck, said Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Other trail users heard the woman’s screams but the man fled the scene on foot before help arrived.

http://www.arlnow.com/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More info with a description (notice the height!):

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 06/01/13, Bike Trail in the 5600 block of Four Mile Run. At 11:05 am on June 1, a female victim was stabbed in the neck area three times after screaming for help when an unknown suspect attempted to get her off the bike trail. The suspect fled the scene on foot and the victim was transported to Fairfax Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The suspect is described as a white Hispanic male in his 20's, approximately 4'8" tall and 130 lbs. He was wearing a yellow Polo shirt and dark pants.

wtf is a white Hispanic male

Hispanics are white. Hispanic is an ETHNIC GROUP not a race. Did you not take anthropology in college?!

This happens on bike and running paths all over the country. Women are not safe on them if they are alone. Predators look for places that women are alone. Sad but true. We will never be an equal society until women and children do not have to fear being victims just because they went somewhere alone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More info with a description (notice the height!):

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 06/01/13, Bike Trail in the 5600 block of Four Mile Run. At 11:05 am on June 1, a female victim was stabbed in the neck area three times after screaming for help when an unknown suspect attempted to get her off the bike trail. The suspect fled the scene on foot and the victim was transported to Fairfax Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The suspect is described as a white Hispanic male in his 20's, approximately 4'8" tall and 130 lbs. He was wearing a yellow Polo shirt and dark pants.

wtf is a white Hispanic male

An Argentinian?

Anonymous wrote:More info with a description (notice the height!):

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 06/01/13, Bike Trail in the 5600 block of Four Mile Run. At 11:05 am on June 1, a female victim was stabbed in the neck area three times after screaming for help when an unknown suspect attempted to get her off the bike trail. The suspect fled the scene on foot and the victim was transported to Fairfax Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The suspect is described as a white Hispanic male in his 20's, approximately 4'8" tall and 130 lbs. He was wearing a yellow Polo shirt and dark pants.

wtf is a white Hispanic male

More info with a description (notice the height!):

MALICIOUS WOUNDING, 06/01/13, Bike Trail in the 5600 block of Four Mile Run. At 11:05 am on June 1, a female victim was stabbed in the neck area three times after screaming for help when an unknown suspect attempted to get her off the bike trail. The suspect fled the scene on foot and the victim was transported to Fairfax Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The suspect is described as a white Hispanic male in his 20's, approximately 4'8" tall and 130 lbs. He was wearing a yellow Polo shirt and dark pants.

Awesome. Good to know - I run on that one sometimes when I get bored of the W&OD. That part of 4MR is pretty wooded and there are some sketchy folks on that nearby stretch of the pike.

There are some ballsy assailants out there. I got grabbed on the W&OD trail in broad daylight, mid-day, years ago. Luckily the guy didn't have a weapon (or didn't get to use it) and I'm pretty strong so I fought him off. But then I had to run home 3 miles. Least fun 3 miles of my life, other than the time I had to walk home on a twisted/sprained ankle.

Unfortunately for a lot of us, "Not running on a trail alone in broad daylight" is not really an option if we ever want to exercise at all. I don't have many friends who can run on my schedule, at my pace, and if I stick to running on a treadmill out of fear, the terrorists have won.

Anonymous wrote:Where exactly was she on the trail? Why doesn't someone give a mile marker, so we know where it happened?

I *think* it's around mile marker 2 or 2.5 (Glencarlyn Park). Further south and east than Bluemont, just past the Rt 50 overpass, but not all the way down to Columbia Pike.

Where exactly was she on the trail? Why doesn't someone give a mile marker, so we know where it happened?

If you have a trail near where you live in the DC area, check with your local police on crime reports. I have never ONCE used a trail by myself in the DC Metro, after I found out in the 80's that they are a hotbed for sexual and physical assaults on women. Why is this allowed to continue on and on????

Agree. They need to catch him ASAP because you know he will do it again soon and escalate his crimes.

That's a ballsy damn scumbag to attempt that at 11 am on a Saturday in good weather. It's disheartening. I wish the victim well.

Be careful out there.

Arlington County park rangers on the lookout after a woman was stabbed along the Four Mile Run trail Saturday morning.

A witness say the woman was walking alone near Glencarlyn Park at about 11 a.m. when a man jumped out of the bushes, grabbed her from behind and began attacking her with the knife.

Bleeding from her wounds, the woman managed to stumble to a nearby bridge on the more populated Washington and Old Dominion Trail, where some joggers called for help.

She suffered minor, non-life threatening wounds and was transported to a local hospital as a precaution.

Authorities are still searching for the suspect.

Joggers say there was another attack nearby here last summer. In that incident, a man sexually assaulted the woman at knifepoint.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/06/woman-stabbed-along-four-mile-run-trail-89547.html