Arlington Woman Reports Being Sexually Assaulted by Male Acquaintance

An Arlington woman told police Monday that she had been sexually assaulted by a male acquaintance two days earlier following a day of drinking.

Investigators were dispatched to the Alexandria Hospital Center shortly before 10 p.m. Monday in reference to the assault, according to police.

The woman, who is in her 20s, went out drinking with a group of friends and acquaintances, police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said.

The group ended up at the suspect's apartment, in the 2500 block of North Fairfax Drive in the Clarendon-Courthouse community, where they continued to drink, Sternbeck said.

"The victim wasn't feeling well. She felt sick from the alcohol," Sternbeck said. "The next thing she knows, she wakes up in the suspect's bedroom with him inappropriately touching her. She had no clothes on."

At the time, another couple was in a second bedroom -- consensually.

The woman who said she was attacked was able to call one of her neighbors to come pick her up, Sternbeck said.

Investigators are trying to determine exactly what happened.

It isn't clear why the woman waited two days to report the assault, Sternbeck said.

A sexual assault is generally a very sensitive topic for a victim, he said. But waiting to report it usually means that victim has showered and perhaps washed the clothes they were wearing when the incident occurred -- actions that can make the investigation more difficult.