An AU graduate student was mugged during the afternoon near the Tenleytown Metro on Feb. 8 as others stood nearby, which has made her question the safety of Tenleytown and the concern of bystanders.
"I definitely felt safe at Tenleytown, and I never thought this would have happened there, especially at 1 in the afternoon," said Yogi Patel, the student whose purse was taken.
A man in glittering eye makeup and pink boots ran up to her as she left the Metro and began shaking her, screaming, "Give me all your shit, bitch," Patel said.
The man also had a tongue ring and wore a tight pink shirt with tight jeans. His hair was pulled back in braids, and he was muscular and about 5 feet 10 inches tall, Patel reported to the police.
She had nothing but her school bag, an over-the-shoulder messenger-style bag.
Patel saw he wasn't armed, so she tried to keep him from stealing her bag long enough for him to give up or for someone to come help her.
"I didn't know what my response should have been, I was just so shaken up," she said.
The suspect eventually snatched the bag and ran down the alley behind Whole Foods grocery store.
Two teens stood by the Metro elevator doors laughing, and a man at a nearby hot dog stand must have seen the incident, she said, but no one helped her.
"I think everyone knew because it was a lot of commotion and a big transvestite with big boots running with someone's bag," Patel said. "There's no way that a lot of people didn't see it."
Patel said she went to a nearby armored car to ask the driver for help. He pointed her in the direction of the suspect.
She met a woman near Whole Foods, who Patel said was in her mid-20s or 30s, who saw the man running with the bag. She suggested they run after him.
"I'm definitely grateful for that woman, because I might not have had the courage to run after him and get my stuff back," Patel said.
The thief eventually dropped the bag and ran off.
The Tenleytown-AU Metro stop is near Police Service Area 205, which contains AU and has the lowest crime rates in the District. Theft, or stealing without a weapon, is the most frequent crime in the area. The Metropolitan Police Department recorded 100 thefts in the area last year.
"It was very surprising to me that it happened at the Metro, the time it happened, and that no one helped me ... [that] was the most scary," Patel said.
Now when she's in the city, Patel said she finds herself "looking at people around me and wondering, if it happened again, would this person help me?"
The incident has made her more willing to help out victims of similar crimes, she said.
"I feel like now I would be more likely to help someone if I saw [a theft taking place] and I knew it wouldn't be a threat to my personal safety."
Officer Junis Fletcher of Police Service Area 205 said to avoid this type of crime, all citizens can do is report suspicious activity to police and remain alert.
"If something looks out of order to you, bring it to the police," he said. "If something doesn't look right, you always want to address it with authorities."
Patel said she knew she couldn't have prevented the incident, but it has made her more wary of her surroundings.
"There was nothing else I could have done to be more aware or anything. It was something that was completely weird," Patel said.
The incident has affected her in several ways.
"I like to think that I wasn't going to let it affect me, but when I was walking to the Metro the other day I heard footsteps and started breathing heavily and I thought, this really is affecting me," she said.
