“Mugging in Broad Daylight – with the car moving and me being dragged for about half a block”

“Dear PoPville,

Just wanted to share an experience I had yesterday morning and maybe see if anyone else had something similar happen to them recently and remind everyone to always be aware of their surroundings.

I was walking down Elm st NW by Ledroit park at 10:30 AM and a car slowed down right by me. I thought the four guys who were in the car were looking for a parking spot and thought nothing of it. The car sped off in a hurry. Then suddenly, a block later, the car stopped right by me, a man in a ski mask jumped out and grabbed my bag. Since it was cross body bag, he essentially pulled me with him to the car, and I was trying to pull it back, with the car moving and me being dragged for about half a block. Finally my bag broke and I fell and they drove off. I did hit my face on the pavement but am generally fine, albeit shaken up about the incident.

On the bright side, immediately I had about eight people around me calling 911, bringing me ice for my face, and generally trying to help calm me down and take the right steps. Police were there in less than five minutes, as was the EMT. DCPS MPD has been really great about giving me updates on the case. It turns out the car had been stolen (two people got the license plate as it drove off) the night before and I wasn’t the first person they robbed Sunday morning. They have arrested one of the guys and are questioning him about the other three.

So, here is a happy reminder to always be aware of your surroundings. I’ve walked down Elm about a hundred times before, and feel very comfortable in the neighborhood. I’m sure this was a random act and I’m 100% sure these four boys do not live in Bloomingdale/LeDroit park. Big ups to all the wonderful people who DO live in the area (and stayed with me for the two hours I had to deal with cops/ EMT) and DCPS. There are a lot of crappy people in the world but there is definitely more good than bad.”