'Butt Slasher' Attacking Women at VA Mall
Fairfax County, Virginia's recent increase of mall slashings has some residents on edge. Police say that a serial "butt slasher" has victimized up to 9 young women.
The butt slasher's favorite haunt appears to be the Fair Oaks Mall, where most victims were innocently shopping before attacked.
The victims are typically slashed in the buttock area with either a razor or a box-cutter.
Authorities say that it appears the man is choosing his victims at random. Typically, the victims are distracted in some form or another before the slashing occurs, the Washington Post reports.
The butt slasher's motivations are also unknown.
He is described to be a heavyset man in his late 20s, and has been caught on surveillance tapes where he is wearing a white wristwatch, though his identity is not yet known to police, according to CBS News.
Most of the victims at first thought that they were being brushed against by a clothes hanger until they realized that they had been slashed, according to the Washington Post.
As atypical as butt-slashing is, it's still a crime.
Not only is the man injuring the women, as one victim had a 3-inch slash on her backside, according to the Washington Post, but it might also be causing psychological damage as one victim says she felt humiliated after the incident and now does not want to go to the mall by herself.
Plus, the slashing is likely an assault and battery on the victims, as the butt slasher is physically attacking the women.
The mall slashings began sometime in February, according to the Fairfax County police. Fortunately, the butt slasher's attacks have not caused serious injury to any of the victims, the Washington Post reports.
Related Resources:
- First victim of slashings at mall confronted attacker (Washington Post)
- Assault/Battery (FindLaw)
- Man Sets Fire to Calif. Mall Store, Forces Evacuation (FindLaw Blotter)
- Elf Bomb: Angry Elf Tells Mall Santa He's Packing Dynamite (FindLaw's Legally Weird)