News

Man Accused of Sex Assault in Clarendon Whole Foods

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:05 p.m.) A D.C. man is in jail after police say he sexually assaulted a woman in the Clarendon Whole Foods and masturbated in a police interview room.

The alleged crime took place inside the store, on the 2700 block of Wilson Boulevard, at 1:50 p.m. on Sunday. According to the police report, a female shopper had bent down to retrieve a bottle of wine when the man — 24-year-old Frank Alex Bouknight — came up behind her and placed his hand between her legs and on her genitalia. Bouknight then laughed and walked away, police say.

Bouknight fled the area in a bus, but then returned and was located by police sleeping on a public bench in front of the nearby Barnes and Noble store, four hours after the assault, according to Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck. Police found “hardcore pornography” magazines inside Bouknight’s backpack, Sternbeck said.

Bouknight’s alleged sexual misconduct continued when he was brought back to police headquarters.

“Once in the police interview room, the subject repeatedly masturbated,” according to the crime report.

Bouknight was charged with sexual battery. He is being held without bond.

Photo courtesy Arlington County Police Department

214 thoughts on “Man Accused of Sex Assault in Clarendon Whole Foods”

  2. Man, I can’t believe that guy walked all the way from DC to Clarendon just to get his jollies like that.

      1. Partly. The texture is nice too. But don’t over think it; it’s just a biological instinct that men like those. Most of us don’t grab them on strangers in public though.

        1. So you believe the assault was just based on “biological instinct”? Really, I wonder why the laugh was necessary then. Cuz that’s normal.

          Poor woman was probably too stunned to go Kato on this loser. Too bad. A nice Verdelho to the noggin is just what he needs.

          2. No, I can’t laugh this stuff off either. Sexual assault is a big deal and these incidents seem to be littering every crime report these days. Scary.

        2. I really love Ferrari’s. I don’t stick my finger in their tailpipe and laugh when I see one.

  5. Would this be an appropriate time to float my idea of tolls on the Wilson and 14th Street bridges headed into VA from Md and DC?

      2. Why don’t you just admit that you want to keep “those” people out of your neighborhood

    2. I seriously doubt this guy specifically chose Arlington as a good place to commit an assault of this nature. Yeah, some people come here to rob, burglarize, and do all sorts of nefarious deeds, but this guy is pretty likely mentally ill and would have done this in any locale he happened to be. And I’m pretty sure we’ve got our own sickos living on this side of the Potomac, too.

  6. This kid love to fap. Fap-fap-fappin machiiiine. He is pretty sexual charged, huh guys? Watch out ladies, he’s single.

  7. Sheesh I’m just glad he hadn’t done bath salts, the drug that makes you eat people.

  8. Had he pulled that on me, he’d be too bruised to have fap fap’d at the police station.

    2. Talking tough turns me on, let’s do it some more and then look for a nooner….

  10. According to court records, this guy was out on bail for 3 offenses that occured on 7/30/12-Petty Larceny, Identity Theft and DIP.

  11. Not always….but most…and I mean most…of the time, these low-lifes come over to Arlington to cause trouble….everything from petty theft, to assaults to even the recent murder on Columbia Pike. Makes me wonder, why is it that we never see the police until someone calls them. Why don’t we have a preventative police presence “walking the beat” in Arlington’s high traffic commercial neighborhoods? A good example is the police presence at the County fair.

    There seems to be plenty of police resources to enforce parking regulations and traffic infractions, but they’re few and far between when it comes to crime preventative type actions…like showing a presence. I wonder how long this scum-bag was allowed to loiter about near a playground that is often full of kids…..obviously long enough to enjoy a nice afternoon nap on a bench….four full hours up to no good in the neighborhood. If the police were out and about more, it would likely make these types of individuals think twice about hanging out and causing trouble….who knows, they might even decide the chances of them getting caught in Arlington is too high and they might stay in DC.

    1. “it would likely make these types of individuals think twice about hanging out and causing trouble”

      What ‘type’ of individual is he? And how would the police identify him as a trouble maker before he makes trouble?

      1. You copy-and-pasted but you didn’t read. The concept is to make the criminal less likely to commit the crime by simply having police be more visible. It does not require the police to identify anything.

        1. Yay, people who get it!

          What will it take to get ACPD away from the off-ramps and into the streets? Decal season is coming up; might be a tough sell even with all these assaults and violent crimes happening…protecting and serving is a lot harder than collecting and observing…

          1. You’re doing a disservice to the Arlington County police department, they are doing a pretty good job. This is a city — crime happens, unfortunately.

            And yes, they check decals. Why? Because it is a tax that serves as an important source of revenue for the county. Among other things, to improve facilities for pedestrians and bicyclists. I’m glad they check decals, otherwise nobody would pay.

          2. You’re right in one respect. The references to decal checking, etc. are irrelevant and I and others should stop making them. It’s a distraction.

            My position is clear – I would like there to be a more visible police presence, with the aim of deterrence, in the county. I frankly don’t care what they’re doing with their time right now, I think they should be spending it in other ways which make it clear that they’re out in the streets looking to stop crime.

        2. This guy committed crimes INSIDE the police station.

          I don’t think it is possible to make the police anymore visible there.

          1. I advocate the more visible community policing approach that Arlington used to have, but you make an excellent point. It probably wouldn’t prevent a guy like this who has mental issues. Might catch him quicker but in this case they caught him pretty quickly.

    2. I don’t think it would have made a difference for this guy. He commits a sexual assault in a crowded store, then hangs around the area (sleeps outside) long enough for the police (that arrested him in July) to review the video tapes and get a good ID on him. The lights are on, but nobody is at home.

        3. You think maybe he did that so he could plead insanity and get a nice comfy bed with four squishy walls?

    3. @ClarendonLocal … can’t tell if trolling or not?!

      Police typically don’t show up until called unless they just happen to randomly be there or there is a specific known threat they are trying to handle. What you’re talking about was thoroughly covered in the Simpsons “Bear Patrol”:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Apu_About_Nothing

      “…plenty of police resources to enforce parking regulations and traffic infractions…”
      No, there are typically only a few enforcement people handing this. It’s just that a few people can be very efficient at, for example, writing parking tickets.

      “…would likely make these types of individuals think twice about hanging out and causing trouble…”
      Again no. These people are mentally disturbed, retarded, etc. At the time they are likely incapable of understanding the implications of their actions. Hence the absurdity of their actions.

      1. I think part of his outrage is that it shouldn’t have taken 4 hours for them to locate someone who moved less than 1/8 of a mile.

        This particular fellow sure does seem to have a real problem; however, from a layperson’s perspective it seems that many of these crimes lately are being committed by people who know full well that the pickings are easy over here. Hence the call for a heightened police presence.

        1. This is from the police department’s mission statement

          “The prevention of crime and disorder through the use of problem-solving tactics embedded in a community-oriented policing strategy which emphasizes collaboration with other county agencies as well as partnerships with advocacy groups and neighborhood associations;”

          Can anybody translate that?

          1. “It would be a good idea if counties shared their ‘deviants with rap sheets out on the streets’ information with one another”

          2. It means “we eat donuts and sit on the on ramps of 66 to catch people violating HOV restrictions and having expired tax and inspection stickers” The left out the part about sleeping in their cars in school parking lots though…

          3. HOV restrictions are there for a reason — to keep traffic moving. The only reason I-66 is not a 8-lane highway is that those HOV restrictions were put in place in the 1970’s. Glad the police if checking.

          4. Prostitution is illegal too, but you don’t see a police presence suppressing that do you?

        2. “know full well that the pickings are easy over here”

          What is this based on? I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent adult, lived in Arlington for awhile, and I have no idea that “the pickings are easy over here.”

          What “pickings” are we talking about? Groping in public? That’s “easy” in ARlington? Compared to where? Since the guy was caught and will likely face time as a result, how is it “easy?” It seems to me that actually committing the crime is the easy part. But I don’t see how it matters whether you are standing on Arlington soil or Silver Spring soil or Salt Lake City soil.

          “many of these crimes” – what crimes are you talking about? Haven’t most of the ones we have read about here resulted in arrests? If you get arrested after committing a crime, how is it “easy?”

          And what difference does it make that it took 4 hours to catch him? How do you know it “shouldn’t” have taken that long? How long should it have taken? 2 hours? 20 minutes? 2 minutes? Who should have known where he was? Where were the failures? Who didn’t do their job properly? It would seem to me you’d have to have at least partial answers to these questions before expressing any outrage. Also, unless he committed any other crimes in those intervening 4 hours, it wouldn’t seem to matter.

          1. They caught the guy that stabbed the guy in broad daylight after trying to steal his car in broad daylight?

          2. ^^This.

            We hear followup on very few of these stories. When they catch the high-profile criminals (murderers, 1 out of ever 15 bank robbers, etc.) it’s usually with the help of FBI, MPD, etc. None of the other sexual assaults have yielded arrests.

            Yes, I am suggesting that one of the most densely populated areas, with a big draw from around the region due to its shops, etc., should have enough of a police presence that it takes ACPD less than 4 hours to find the guy who committed this assault, walked 200 feet, and went to sleep.

          3. Forgot to mention, they think the stabber guy then stole a work truck to escape. That’s three unsolved right there.

    6. If the police are enforcing parking regulations and traffic infractions, which most Arlingtonians are thankful for, then they are ‘visible,’ are they not? Do you really expect the officers to be ‘walking the beat’ in Whole Foods?

      1. Maggie…Josh S et al…and the like minded

        Really?? I don’t expect the police to patrol Whole Foods. I used the County Fair example…they were out and about…visible…probably having a good time people watching at that…my point is if the low lifes see them … they’ll be less likely to do something bad. I’ve lived her for ten years and have yet to see this sort of presence on a routine basis…other that 4th of Jult at Iwo, County Fair, MC marathon or similar high profile events. Fact…ACPD officer rarely exit their cars or Segways unless called upon via 911 or in response to a traffic infraction or parking violation. … btw. I’m out and about alot … I’ve even called the non-emergency # on occasion to report low life activity… I have yet to see a preventative presence that deters low lifes from engaging in crime to begin with. It’s not feasible everywhere…I just think some of the busier areas like Clarendon, Pent City, Crystal City, Ross, Ct House, and the Pike could benefit from it.

        1. It’s amazing how dismissive people are of common sense around here, isn’t it? I can’t believe people consistently argue against the suggestion that we have police patrolling our streets and focusing on the high-density areas.

          1. Word games that internet keyboard jockeys like to engage in. You say you want to see better police presence, they twist it into you asking for an officer sitting outside every house 24/7. How can you argue with their logic, it’s so pure? ;)

    7. Good points–but it’s “preventive,” not “preventative.” (You don’t “preventate” something.)

  12. I’m glad this woman is ok and this nasty weirdo is in jail (for now)…

    He’s lucky he didn’t touch a more violent woman. Many of us would have beat him with a wine bottle.

    1. yep wine bottle makes for a great self defense weapon, *cleanup on the wine aisle!!!* he would have had to be carted out of there had he tried that on me. the balls on some folks. *smh

  15. I’m also confused why he wasn’t prevented from leaving this store? This man could have attacked someone else??

    But seriously, what’s going on in ARL? Lots of sexual assault type crimes. As a woman, this is not a good trend.

    1. After the would-be car thief almost killed a guy last week, maybe people were hesitant to approach this freak.

    3. “As a woman, this is not a good trend.”

      The trend is not a woman. I’m pretty sure you mean something like, “As a woman, I don’t think this is a good trend.”

      2. Wow, thanks! You really made the world a better place today. I am forever apologetic for my inadequate proofreading.

    4. What’s the law on that? Does Whole Foods have the right to detain someone in their store?

  17. This guy obviously has mental health issues. Hope his sentence involves jail time AND mental health counseling / treatment.

    1. Looks high too. Drug program needed on top of the mental.

      I mean, pot gets me all horned up like a 16-year-old too, but you need to be wired wrong to be like this guy.

    2. Yeah – everyone knows those identity protection scammers are awful, but who woulda guessed he’d do something like this?!?!?!

  19. It’s no excuse for his actions, but it seems likely to me that he’s got mental health issues. Given his age and behavior, I’m thinking schizophrenia. He doesn’t seem to have gotten the help he needed after the cops picked him up for the earlier offenses.

    1. Yes, definite mental illness, but in a spiraling out of control highly dangerous to the public sort of way.

    1. Used to be a guy that was a resident of A-SPAN in Courthouse that would spend the whole day at the Clarendon Starbucks. He would shop at whole foods for his meals with a payment card. Not sure if it was credit, debit, or most likely, USDA SNAP card (food stamps).

      After several months of annoying the Starbuck’s customers, he did not come back.

      Mr Grammar, is that an oxymoron? Annoying an annoying Starbuck’s customer?

  22. A tip of the iceberg. Ask women who are among the packed in like sardines standing up on Metrotrain rush hour trips about sexual contacts then. Sexual rubbing against. Touching. And more.

        1. Every city in the US with a subway that is packed during rush hour(s) has this as a prevalent problem. To my knowledge, the most data about perps comes from work in New York City. Surprise: The perps included a significant proportion of males in suits. A number come equipped with a protective cloth to keep their ejaculate off of their dress clothes. No such protection for their female victims.

          2. Always a guy in a suit for me and usually one with a wedding ring. I usually yell at the top of my lungs, “Does you wife know you’re feeling up women on the Metro?”. They usually bolt after that.

          5. LOL so trying that line next time. I usually just to the STOP TOUCHING ME and take my work bag and sock em once.

      2. You must be living under a rock. Even Metro itself launched a campaign for awareness about this. And there is a whole blog about this by women who have been victims.

        1. Why do you assume I would live under a rock? Would a rock be someplace where I could not find out this information?

          What kind a campaign is an awareness campaign? Did Metro mean an information campaign? Site 3 peer-reviewed sources please.

          Is the blog “whole”ly about this issue, or does it talk about other issues? Why would a blog be under a rock that you think I live under?

  23. OK, time to get my pepper spray. When I moved here, this area was a bubble. Guess it’s been popped. :(

    1. The age of innocence in Arlington is LONG over. Probably never was. Only, fewer perps were doing stuff back then.

  24. Arlington citizens need to take back our neighborhood and report suspicious people. Please don’t make the mistake of tolerating suspicious people simply because it’s not your immediate problem. And for people who claim Bouknight was not dangerous looking, please get your eyes and/or judgement evaluated. We need to take a stand against criminals who have begun to exploit the good nature and tolerance of our citizens. Call the ACPD non-emergency line at 703-558-2222 immediately.

    1. Yes, it really does figure. We have a ton of high-profile targets and a police department that doesn’t police. While this particular guy seems like he was just a sicko who needs mental help, I’m not going to be surprised when this area becomes a destination for crime tourism.

  26. Time for ArlCoPo to step it up a notch.
    This crime wave is getting out of hand……

    funny…I posted this exact same remark last week….

    1. And the comment was as irrelevant then as it is now. The cops caught the guy, so what needs to be stepped up?? Stop fear-mongering.

  27. Now that I think about it Bouknight looks like a guy who had been hanging around my complex in Westover about 5 years ago. I think he was staying with a friend and I caught him outside fapping on two occasions. One time he told me he was taking a leak and I reminded him of the “if you shake more than 3 times” adage.

    I have no proof, but if the guy is as mentally ill as we perceive him to be, then it would make sense that he returns to familiar territory.

  28. Do the a$$holes who do this Metro rubbing crap ever get confronted on the spot (“are you a dog in heat?”)? They need to be shamed like the johns get shamed. Of course, if it’s a thug-looking guy doing it, not an option (likely weapon of some sort). Where’s Chris Hansen from MSNBC, “To Catch a Predator”…?

  29. I am very troubled by this story. My kids use that park all the time, and the others in the neighborhood. Does anyone recognize this guy, is he a regular in the area? There are other homeless that are regulars and I’ve always considered to be pretty harmless, but I want to know if he’s often here and potential for something scary to happen.

  31. This sort of problem will get worse when the Arlington Board opens up its homeless shelter. It will be a magnet for homeless from DC to move over to Arlington.

  32. People need to be “instant” responders. If you are under attack, defend yourself? How? Easy. Buy a gun and learn how to use it to neutralize the threat. You’re in Virginia. Get a concealed handgun permit and carry a gun wherever it is legal. That includes Whole Foods and Starbucks. ‘Nuff said.

    1. I’m sorry, but I fail to see how the victim having a gun in this scenario would have made anything better. It likely happened so quickly there would be no time to pull a firearm. Then what was she supposed to do, shoot him in the back as he walked away?

      Mentally ill and just plain crazy people do crazy things–they don’t think of consequences like sane individuals and I find it hard to believe this perp would have behaved differently had he thought the victim was armed.

      Putting guns in more peoples hands means more guns in crazy people’s hands, plain and simple. Why on earth would we want to make it any easier for guys like this to have firearms?? Say what you will about the Arlington PD, but I would rather the gun be in an officer’s hands than mine or anyone elses in the middle of WF at 2 on a Sunday.

      1. one of you legal buffs, can you confirm, does the law say you must open carry where alcohol is “served” or is it “sold” ? and i would check w/ whole foods about the gun carrying too.

        Example, I know at tysons corner mall, you’re not allowed.

        1. it refers to places where you CONSUME alcohol – not ‘served’ or ‘sold’ its to protect bar keep and whatnot from having drinkers be armed. and any private business has the right to say no firearms. it just has to be posted. this goes for law enforcement individuals not on official duty. individuals also have the right to NOT go in, and not give up their weapons as well. http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-308 – thats the code section – section J3 of this ….

      2. Victim could have pulled out her defensive pistol (if she had been carrying one) and held the man at gun point and with her free hand called 911 saying she was holding for arrest the man who just sexually assaulted her in public. You don’t have to shoot a person to stop the threat. Sometimes just pointing is enough to get them to stop so the police can them take them away. Got that?

        The man walked away because no one, including the victim, tried to stop him as far as can be discerned from the short story.

        The guy who was stabbed by the Pio Pio could have stopped his attacker IF had a gun and knew how to use it.

        The Whole Foods victim is lucky she wasn’t stabbed by this person. You like being unarmed in Arlington? I don’t, because I want to be able to defend myself or others who are innocent.

        Your false claim (“Why on earth would we want to make it any easier for guys like this to have firearms??”) is so ridiculous. I want good, sane people carrying firearms so they can stop attacks committed by armed bad/crazy/evil people. I do not want bad/crazy people carrying guns, but you can’t stop them from, for example, stealing a gun or buying one from a thief who stole it from a drug dealer.

        Guns in the hands of good people produces a net benefit of increased safety. More guns, less crime. It’s also the title of book. Try reading it sometime.

        @Chimichanga – CHP holders cannot consume alcohol while conceal carrying. Open carriers can consume alcohol but cannot be intoxicated.

        See http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-308

        § 18.2-308. Personal protection; carrying concealed weapons; when lawful to carry; penalty.

        …
        J3. No person who carries a concealed handgun onto the premises of any restaurant or club as defined in § 4.1-100 for which a license to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption has been granted by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board under Title 4.1 of the Code of Virginia may consume an alcoholic beverage while on the premises. A person who carries a concealed handgun onto the premises of such a restaurant or club and consumes alcoholic beverages is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.

        1. Yes indeedy, we need more people pulling out guns at Whole Foods. Great idea. Now I know what to do when they’re slow restocking the black olives at the salad bar.

          1. Oh and VCDL– I’m sure a vast majority of people in Arlington LIKE the idea of you being unarmed around their kids in grocery stores.

          3. You carry a concealed clown ??

            I am pretty sure that is not legal in Virginia………

          4. What do kids in grocery stores have to do with a law-abiding citizen exercising his rights in a responsible manner? Just because YOU don’t care for it, please do not speak for the rest of the county.

          5. “Just because YOU don’t care for it, please do not speak for the rest of the county.”

            what a great argument. Going to use that one on the anti-gay marriage folks…oh wait, they are usually the ones clinging to their guns. Gotta love hypocrisy…

          6. You’re wrong. Plenty of people are for concealed carry and for gay rights. In fact, I think there are many such people. The two viewpoints are both consistent with a “live and let live” philosophy–until you pose a threat to me.

          7. I was replying to Gnarlington; no reply link to his post, so I used the one above it.

          8. So the sexual assault victim does not have the right to stop her attacker so the police can arrest him? Pablo, you’re a clown if you pull out a gun because they’re slow restocking the black olives at the salad bar. Do it and maybe you’ll get to share a cell with Mr. Bouknight.

          9. Nothing would get these crazy real estate prices in line quicker than some gunfights at the Whole Foods. Most people around here can’t even control their teacup poodle and cup of starbucks at the same time. You’re really advocating holding an assailant at gunpoint in a grocery store while dialing 911 with your other hand. Sheesh. If you’re going to go that far, why not just tie the perp up using your toes and shoelaces?

          11. Please post a few links of your armed heroes preventing or responding to a crime?

            But almost every day I see plenty of stories of guns killing people, not saving them.

            Leave the guns to the cops. Happy shopping.

          16. Ha, I have to laugh @ VCDL using “pwned” Jesus what are you, a 17 year old on Reddit? Let me guess, you’re a “lawyer”? Go back to playing your video games in mom’s basement, dork. And be careful with that gun, you could put your eye out or worse!

          17. I have to laugh at people who use the “mom’s basement” line. In fact, I just did.

          1. Still waiting for those links to, oh 4 or 5 stories of all you concealed heroes stopping a serious crime. Bonus if you’ve got one taking place in a hoity-toity grocery store.

          2. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/07/watch-shop-owner-shoots-would-be-robbers.html

            “Watch shop owner shoots would-be robber at Westminster mall”

            Moral of the story – the gun can save your life if you own a shop and carry one.

            http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/quakertown/robber-who-was-beaten-by–year-old-would-be/article_b3a0eb36-43a1-5ecf-80d3-0e6f407be4ea.html

            I like that one. “A 29-year-old would-be robber who had the tables turned on him when his not-so-frail 70-year-old victim pulled out a gun and pistol whipped him into submission was sentenced Monday.”

            See, you don’t have to shoot all attackers to get them to stop.

          3. @Pablo –

            Just go to http://www.americanrifleman.org/BlogList.aspx?cid=25&id=21

            LOTS of stories there for you that the lamestream media won’t talk about.

            Here’s another one in a grocery store parking lot. Guns Save Lives.

            Dale Vigliarolo and his wife were walking into Holiday Market when they spotted 43-year-old David Shuten in the parking lot wilding a large hunting knife. After a failed attempt to break into a vehicle, Shuten turned his attention to a nearby couple with an infant child. As Shuten approached the family, Vigliarolo drew his .38 Special and demanded he drop his weapon. Shuten dropped the knife and sat on the ground until police arrived. He was then transported to a nearby hospital for psychiatric evaluation. (Royal Oak Review, Royal Oak, Mich., 3/14/12)

    2. Sure – put a hole thru the perp and whoever is standing near him. With a statement like yours, I doubt you are a VCDL member.

      1. See above. Just hold the creep at gun point until the police arrive. Then holster when they arrive, assuming the creep is not acting in a threatening manner. And stand back in case he goes for the gun (weapon retention tactic.) :)

        3. And if the person drops the gun? doesnt have the safety on and mistakenly opens fire? or the guy slaps/punches the gun away and starts shooting up the place? Yea, great idea….

  33. Wake up Arlington! The ACPD is just like the rest of the Arlington County Government — they are focused on MONEY!

    Writing tickets for HOV violators and cars with dead tags brings in a considerable amount of revenue. Wondering the streets looking for trouble brings in very little. I agree that it is better to have a proactive, rather than reactive police force; you just don’t have that here. Arlington wants/needs their revenue.

    Don’t get me started on the overtime for officers to sit at road construction projects. What does that accomplish when they are being paid overtime to sit in their car and read a book or play on their phone? The construction companies are being forced to pay for this presence and they see little to no benefit for the costs involved. Care to guess who pays in the end? You do!

    Ever been to a local fire station and seen the fleet of police cars? They claim to go there to handle paperwork but how can that make sense? Is it really necessary to have so many off the streets at all hours?

    Wake up Arlington! We’re all paying premium taxes; we deserve premium services.

    2. Actually expired tags ans inspections bring in nothing financially. Those are compliance issues, so a person just has to show it was taken care of and it will be dismissed. It costs nothing, and brings in nothing as far as revenue. Not even court costs.

  34. what’s the legal -ese here ?
    I’m not carrying anything to shoot a person who does something like to me…But I know how to fight well.
    If a dude tries that with me can I turn around and give him a 3 – 4 combo, and Take him down, with *extreme prejudice* and be within my rights as a victim ?

        1. Think about what could follow from a particular response.

          He touches you improperly. You smash him with fists or a bottle or wipe out your gun and shoot him (hoping that his body contains the likely multiple bullets required to “take him down” so that others in the store are not hit).

          Now, what can be documented?

          You say he touched you improperly. Is (are) there a witness(es)? Probably not. He says he didn’t touch you improperly. If there is a witness or a video that supports his contacting you, he says that it was an accidental non-sexual contact as he was passing by you. These accidental non-sexual contacts happen all the time — they do.

          But your assault on him was highly visible and can be documented, including by his injuries or cadaver.

          Who gets arrested, prosecuted and very possibly convicted and sentenced? The person who perpetrated an assault and, with the gun, attempted to or did kill the other person. And if there was collateral harm to others from your gun shots, welcome to a long duration of incarceration.

          So, is not responding the response to the sexual violation? Not necessarily. Let’s think the possibilities through. A very useful ARLNow.Com Forum topic could be about responding effectively to a sexual violation.

  35. Interesting how the same posters who have previously been up in arms over the ‘humiliation’ brought upon people by publishing their names and mugshots don’t have the same objections in this case. Selective victimization of criminals?

    2. I thought people were upset with mugshots of two murdered guys, when their crimes were unrelated to their murder. I don’t real ArlNow all the time, tho, so maybe I missed somethings…

    3. The difference, as you well know, is that the mugshots used last week were those of murder VICTIMS. This guy is not a murder victim.

      1. And the mentally disabled woman, arrested for soliciting a police officer on Columbia Pike, whose mug shot showed her weeping and being held up by someone’s hand.

  37. I live in Washington, D.C., but I visit Arlington frequently. First, I am glad that the Arlington Police arrested a suspect. The courts in Arlington are nowhere as busy as in the District of Columbia. So, I anticipate that the suspect will go through the court system fairly quickly. I am guessing that there are relatively few Arlington police on duty on a Sunday afternoon. For example, I found a wallet in Arlington on a Sunday afternoon a few years ago, and I brought it to police headquarters. There were so few people working that I had to talk outside the locked headquarters on a speaker, and a police officer came to the door to pick up the wallet. I skimmed the 2011 report of the Arlington County Police Department, which is on its website. Several major crimes have been falling while the population is growing the past few years. I could not find a number of the police officers during my skim of the website. Meanwhile, there are probably many more people coming to work and shop in Arlington on weekdays in comparison to weekends. It makes more sense to have more police working on weekdays to handle the influx of people, particularly if the county has a small police force. Perhaps Arlington County should hire more police, but that takes money. It appears that the politicians are more interested in building a streetcar on Columbia Pike, than hiring more police.

  38. The problem with arguments like VCDLs is that they rely on fantasies…for instance, fantasizing that a schizophrenic homeless person is going to act predictably in the face of deadly force. Or fantasizing that an entire grocery store isn’t going to run screaming for cover and endanger more lives. The biggest fantasy of course, is that,

    “Sometimes just pointing is enough to get them to stop so the police can them take them away.”

    That is called “brandishing” and is the province of bigmouths and hotheads. It’s also dumb. If you’re going to pull a gun on someone, it better be because you plan to shoot them.

    1. Thanks, yours is the most intelligent comment on this article.

      Brandishing indeed.

      1. Preach it Brown b4 green

        What kills me are the comments about trash across the river or S. Arlington, yet read the posts above and the trash is in our presence on this post.

        I’ve never seen so many ridiculous comments.

        Yes, the guy is mentally ill brainiacs, and would most likely ignore a gun or normal reasoning.

        What a waste of space on this commentary.

        And yes, what the heck is going on with all of the sex crimes in Arlington lately?

  40. I am going to start open carrying my scimitar (fully sharpened and legal to carry in VA). If I see anything like this I am cutting off the head of the offender.

    2. “If I see anything like this I am cutting off the head of the offender” Aim lower so he can live to tell the story in falsetto.

  41. I called the police after seeing this guy with his ding dong out standing in the bushes right next to the Whole Foods around this time. They told they were sending someone out. I guess it was too late. Had they acted quicker (I mean really? 4 hours?) they might have saved the woman the trauma.

  42. Hollywood — Good for you to call the ACPD.

    Did you stay in the area to observe when an officer responded and to provide a report of the offense and affirm your willingness to testify to support an arrest? Without testimony, the officer would have to him- or herself observe the offense in order to make an arrest that could be sustained.

    1. Jim, you’re point is well taken. No, I didn’t stay around. However, the dispatch officer didn’t ask me to either. I thought at first that the guy was just using nature’s facilities so to speak, it wasn’t until later that I thought he might be gratifying himself while watching pedestrians.

  43. Great comments, now what are you going to do about it? Put pressure on our County board to pass a loitering law. The police departments hands are tied with being able to move these vagrants off our streets, as well as groups of aimless individuals just standing around in various areas causing trouble. If not the nightmare that is the District of Columbia will become ours.

    Oh and this includes all, Black, White, Latino, Asian, and space aliens if need be. So race does not play into this comment.

    1. Don’t worry there is a nice apartment lined up for him and his friends by the Board via their affordable housing program.

  44. No worries, when he gets to jail, he’ll get all that sex stuff he wants….’cept he’ll be the receiver.

  45. sucks for the victim. keep your eyes and ears open; your mouths shut. you all talk too much.

  46. God bless America, where the primary mental health care provider is … the prison system.

    1. and under Paul Ryan it’ll be no system at all. Small Government will cure the world!!!

      1. Small government will make people more responsible for themselves again… like it used to be in this country.

        Why do you say it like it’s a bad thing, Sheriff Gonna Getcha ?

  47. Everyone should have the ACPD non-emergency line in their cell phone. It has helped me many times to report suspected crime and accidents.

    703-558-2222

  48. Arlington has approximately 100 sex offenders as does Fairfax. DC has 1000. Too bad local governments claim to do the right thing and give illegal aliens a free ride but can’t resolve the issue of sex offenders harassing their wives at the grocery store, I assume they don’t want to get sued, so much for adhering to the principle of doing the right thing.

  50. I guarantee the police would have found this guy in much less than four hours if, for example, he had done this to a woman who had been exercising her second amendment right (CCW), and had this guy at gun point shortly after he touched her inappropriately.

    I guarantee the cops would have shown up in oh, about six minutes or less. . . because a “good citizen” is doing a “bad” thing by holding a mentally ill criminal at gunpoint. Nevermind that the mentally ill criminal just did something “bad.”

    1. Well said. It would seem strange if the police side with the person defending themselves. White guilt hurts.

  51. I cant believe the number of people that cant read the article properly before ranting and raving. It clearly states the dude fled on a bus and later returned. Yet all the comments would lead you to believe the cops took 4 hours to respond. The average North Arlingtonian has a graduate degree and cant comprehend a simple news article. All the dollars and no cents.

    1. The original article did not contain that information-it was updated at 11:05 pm. Anyone who posted a comment prior to the update was not aware that he fled on a bus.

    2. “The average North Arlingtonian has a graduate degree and cant comprehend a simple news article. All the dollars and no cents.”
      Not only that but they would write your comment as:
      “The average North Arlingtonian ha’s a graduate degree and cant comprehend a ‘simple new’s article. All the dollar’s and no cent’s.”

  52. I think this is the guy who sleeps in the outfield of the baseball field in Shirlington across from the dog park…

  54. Since liberals think it’s “Racist” to require people to have photo ID, how are we supposed to know if sex offenders that are required to register with athorities are doing so?

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