A Fallen Comrade

[Nadya]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Aug23.html

A popular waiter at a Dupont Circle area restaurant was fatally shot early yesterday as he walked home from work, moments after telling his assailant, "I don't have any money," police and witnesses said.

Adrien D. Alstad, 55, who often broke into song as he worked at Annie's Paramount Steak House, was shot once in the chest about 2:20 a.m. in the 1800 block of R Street NW, two blocks from his apartment. He was pronounced dead an hour later at George Washington University Hospital.

For more details, see link above. Horrible!!

[DCMark]

Hopefully this is a temporary thing. This has happened before, also in Georgetown. It makes sense to rob where the money is. My wife and I have changed our walking habits a bit since this is our hood.

[JennyUptown]

I wish it were temporary, but it's not. DC simply has a street crime problem.

I lived in New York for about six and a half years and was never a victim of crime. No thefts, no break-ins, no pickpocking experiences.

I've been in DC just shy of three years and during year one, my purse was stolen (and they WENT TO TOWN on my cards). In year two, the tires were stolen right off my car (you should have seen my face when I came to find it propped up on junk tires).

For those of you in the service industry who leave work late at night, take good care, return to the buddy system of our younger years and remember that while it would suck to be robbed, it's more important to be alive.

[Nadya]

This makes me glad about my decision to always drive to and from work and to never mind the hassle of occasional parking tickets and finding a spot in Dupont Circle after midnight.

I think Jenny's right - DC is just bad that way. My car has been broken into twice exactly a year apart in what is supposed to be a posh Embassy Row 'hood. First time, they took a pair of ice skates (that are basically athletic shoes with pieces of metal attached, no good to man or beast besides me), second time, nothing - just good, wholesome fun of smashing windows. Grrr.

[FunJohnny]

Yes regrettably street crime is always a problem in the District, particularly late at night, and you can never be overly confident in any part of City. Weeks and months can pass without an incident in one part of town and then --seemingly out of the blue -- something horrific can happen. One of my buddies, was recently mugged and viciously beaten in G'town around midnight right on M St. after a meal with his wife. In the Dupont Circle area, I have heard several reports over the years of restaurant workers getting mugged, stabbed and even, as in this case shot as they made their way home after work. I guess the lesson is that you can't afford to assume it can't happen to you and to take whatever precautions you can, particularly by avoiding being alone on the street late at night.

[monkey2000]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...-2004Aug26.html