Suspects use stun gun to rob DC teen during severe storm

A D.C. teenager was robbed during the height of the severe storms that passed through the area on Wednesday.

Police said five attackers used a stun gun on the 17-year-old girl as she walked home. They stole her cash before pinning her to the ground and leaving her barefoot in the torrential downpour.

The victim was heading home from the Potomac Ave Metro station when she was cornered on a dark stretch of 14th Street in Southeast D.C., according to police.

It is the latest string of assaults that have happened in this neighborhood.

"A lot of people live around here and use this to get back and forth to work, so to think that even at a reasonable hour you might have trouble getting home, it's really concerning," said one neighborhood resident.

Ward 6 ANC commissioner Chander Jayaraman said the safety concerns in his neighborhood increase by the day.

"The victims are being followed out of the Metro system and they are being preyed upon on our streets," he said.

Jayaraman has set forth an initiative where volunteer residents would station themselves throughout the neighborhood for two hours during the evening rush. It is a visible presence to help those walking home from the Metro feel safer.

"Ward 6 residents feel like they are a target," said Jayaraman.

For some residents aware of the assaults in the area, they said it is back to basics and common sense.

"I'm just more vigilant," a resident told us. "I'm not only my cellphone or with earphones in my ear. Before I even get off the train, I don't take out my wallet. I have my Metro farecard in my hand."

The volunteers that are part of the Safe Routes program will be trained by the Guardian Angels. They will be wearing yellow vests as well as holding whistles if they need to call out for help. They will also be calling 911 if they witness any suspicious activity or crime happen before them.

They are hoping to get this safety initiative underway in the next week.

Online:

https://dcsafetynet.wordpress.com/safe-routes-program/