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Bystanders Stop Sexual Assault Near Courthouse Metro

(Updated on 12/23/21 at 11:30 a.m.) A group of four men in their 20s intervened to stop a sexual assault outside of the Courthouse Metro station early Saturday morning, according to police.

The incident happened around 3:30 a.m. It started, police say, when a man followed a 31-year-old woman off the Metro and, after exiting the station, threw her into a bush near the corner of N. Veitch Street and Wilson Blvd.

The man tried to sexually assault the woman, but her screams for help were heard by a group of four men who ran to her aid, fought off the attacker and called police, according Arlington County Police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The suspect was arrested as he tried to flee eastbound on Clarendon Blvd, Sternbeck said. [Name redacted], 27-years-old of no fixed address, is charged with sexual battery.