Bates Area Civic Association

I’m not inclined normally to post about crime in the area except when it may help us ultimately be safer and when there’s a trend we need to watch out for. In that vein, I want to report to readers that a P St neighbor was assaulted last Friday. He is a white male, 30 years of age. Here’s his recount of the incident. Be careful and look out around you; even in broad daylight these things happen.

I was assaulted Friday while walking home from work (around 5:30pm). I was walking eastbound on O St NW, toward NJ Ave. A group of 8-10 teenagers were lingering near the corner, and as I walked by, one lunged from the back of the group and struck me in the jaw. It might have been an attempted robbery, but when I turned to confront the boy, he fled while the others just stared. I reported the incident to the police, who said that they’ve been having a lot of trouble in the past couple weeks with groups of teenagers … I’ve heard several accounts of robberies that happened just like this. The other kids didn’t know how to react. I guess I was supposed to fall down or something? I suppose I could have stayed right there in front of them while I called the police. But not knowing what else might have been “in store” for me, I kept walking until I was safely across NJ.