Northern Virginia is generally considered a safe area, especially when compared to the District of Columbia which is relatively close in proximity. However, this past Valentine's Day Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax County was host to the first of several slashing and robberies. A young lady had her hands full of shopping bags ready to leave Fair Oaks Mall when she was attacked. The 20 year-old victim did not realize she was cut, only initially noticing that the 5-foot-6 heavy set Latino had ripped her leggings."'I didn’t even know I was cut, so I just yelled at him,' the woman said" (Q. Wu Washington Post). Apparently, this slash and steal strategy was used by the attacker several times in order to distract victims, and soon afterwards would escape with their belongings. The Post states "In most incidents, the man distracted the victim before slashing her, police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said. The women were attacked in the afternoon or evening, when stores are likely to be busy, she said" (Q. Wu Washington Post). Another incident occurred on July 25th as an 18 year-old was shopping at Forever 21. The report states "In the most recent attack, on July 25, an 18-year-old was browsing at XXI Forever about 5:30 p.m. when she noticed that a man behind her was bending down to pick up clothes that had fallen off a rack. She then felt a sudden pain and noticed she was bleeding. The suspect had cut through her denim shorts and underwear" (Q. Wu Washington Post). Two more attacks had occurred in June and another in May. Fairfax County is said to have one of the lower crime rates. However, being as though crime may occur anywhere, it is up to us the citizens to do our part and stay alert.
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