Stabbing on the 4MR Trail

[ts986]

Anyone else have any trouble on 4MR of late? I was biking home from Crystal City last week after dark and I passed by a guy just standing in the middle of the trail in one of the parts that’s not really well lit. I chalked it up to just being weird/creepy and cycled away as fast as I could. I didn’t really think much of it until a friend mentioned someone had been stabbed on 4MR not that long ago.

[PotomacCyclist]

Under the bridges at Potomac Yard (Potomac Ave., Rte. 1)? A homeless guy often camps out on the trail in that area. There’s a thread about it on the forum, but I don’t remember the title. Some have pointed out that even when the guy is sleeping, he presents a safety issue because he is lying in the middle of the trail. I saw him there a couple weeks ago, near the unfinished temporary path to Potomac Ave.

[Arlingtonrider]

I’m very dismayed to see a post linking that homeless guy with an old thread heading about a stabbing on a different section of the trail.

If you see a homeless person who seems to pose a danger on the trails (with the homeless person you mention, we were most concerned about running over him), please contact ASPAN (the Arlington organization that knows and helps homeless people) and/or the police, and please do not post it under a thread about an old stabbing and scare people from riding the trails.

More biking on the trails is more eyes and more safety. I understand that everyone is freaked out by the Navy Yard incident but let’s not turn that into a reason not to ride and/or not to do the right things when we see someone who needs help.

P.s. I hope that we can continue this conversation, if we do continue it, *under a DIFFERENT thread heading – NOT this alarming one.*

[hoffsquared]

I go through there every day. Thanks for the post.

[cyclingfool]

@Arlingtonrider 64329 wrote:

I’m very dismayed to see a post linking that homeless guy with an old thread heading about a stabbing on a different section of the trail.

If you see a homeless person who seems to pose a danger on the trails (with the homeless person you mention, we were most concerned about running over him), please contact ASPAN (the Arlington organization that knows and helps homeless people) and/or the police, and please do not post it under a thread about an old stabbing and scare people from riding the trails.

More biking on the trails is more eyes and more safety. I understand that everyone is freaked out by the Navy Yard incident but let’s not turn that into a reason not to ride and/or not to do the right things when we see someone who needs help.

P.s. I hope that we can continue this conversation, if we do continue it, under a different thread heading – not this alarming one.

May I suggest that people contact ASPAN instead of the police unless the guy is threatening your safety or that of others. I saw the ArlPD giving that homeless guy a really hard time last spring one evening on my way home from work. In hindsight, I feel guilty because I didn’t stop to witness to what was going on and make sure they didn’t take do anything too rough to him. While I don’t like the way he slept near/on the trail (out of concern for him being struck by a cyclist), the police handling of the situation seemed a bit aggressive for my liking, and there was another officer heading to the scene as I pedaled towards the Rte. 1 underpass.

Just sayin’.

[consularrider]

I echo arlingtonrider and suggest this discussion move to the “Sleeping Bag Guy” thread under general discussions? I’ve bumped that thread.

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