W&OD Streaker is back

On Saturday, my mom was almost a victim of this rapist, and I want to
share her account of what happened in the hopes that the rest of us can be
alert and stay safe until this person is caught.

My mom was walking our dog on the Reston path that runs between/parallel
to Lawyers Road and Glade Drive, going towards the Acton basketball courts.
My dog was acting strangely, and as my mom looked up, she saw a man
wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt standing on the bridge. The man looked at
my mom from a distance, but then turned and walked the other direction so
she didn't think much of it. She crossed over the bridge and began walking
up the path past the Acton basketball courts towards home, when my dog
started acting strangely again. My mom happened to turn around at that moment
to see what my dog was looking at, and the man was suddenly right behind her
in her face. She said he had come out of nowhere and she didn't even hear
him. Her first instinct was to run, but she was on a stretch of path
where there weren't any houses directly next to her, and she didn't want to
make any sudden movements, so she thought her next best bet would be to look
the man in the face and have a conversation with him. I think they tell you
in self-defense classes that sometimes you can deter your attacker by
looking them in the eye. She asked him something like "Are you having a nice
morning?" He didn't look at her and didn't respond, but began walking next
to her. My mom began to speed up her pace and the man started to drop back
behind her but as he did so, he pulled his hands out of his pockets and
she saw that he was wearing latex gloves. At this point my mom's "fight or
flight" instincts really kicked in and she ran away as fast as she could and
called the police. The police officer called in the detective who is
handling this case (the one who contributed to the Washington Post article),
and explained to her the magnitude of the situation. My mom's description of
the suspect (African-American, 5'11", 200 lbs, stocky build, broad face,
no facial hair, wearing a blue hoodie), as well as her account of how it
happened (man spots his victim, disappears in another direction, then suddenly
reappears behind his victim), all match the East Coast Rapist's
description and M.O., as well as the other sightings and near-attacks that have been
experienced in our area within the past week.

Please forward this on to anyone you know in the area (particularly women)
who walk their dog, go on runs, etc. Please encourage them not to go on
the paths by themselves, and to use the main roads if they are by
themselves. Apparently this rapist has been spotted all over the Northern Virginia
area in recent weeks so he is not just isolated to Reston.

Feel free to ask me if you have any questions, and stay safe!