Man charged with abduction after alleged attacks near Virginia Metro stations

Man charged with 2 attacks near Metro stations

A man is behind bars - accused of attacking two women near area Metro stations.

Friday night attacks

What we know:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A man is under arrest, accused of attacking two women near Metro stations in Alexandria. 

Around 9:45 on Friday night, a woman walking near the Braddock Road metro stop says a man approached her from behind and took her to the ground.

She was able to fight him off, according to Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire. She called 9-1-1 immediately and police started to investigate.

When that investigation started, dispatchers took another, separate call about an incident at the Potomac Yard stop an hour before the Braddock Road attack.  The circumstances were nearly identical.

The woman at Potomac Yard was waiting for a ride with her four-year-old daughter next to her when she was attacked.  She did not call 911 right away, but McGuire says her boyfriend called police later in the evening. Both attacks were caught on camera.

Alexandria man charged with assault and abduction

Alexandria police have a man in custody after they say he attacked two women Friday night.

The investigation

Because both attacks happened near Metro stops, Alexandria and Metro Transit Police started working together to find a suspect.

Alexandria Police had video from the attack that happened near Braddock Road, and Metro Transit Deputy Chief Daniel Alvarez said the Potomac Yard attack was caught on their cameras.

Using that video footage, Fox 5 has learned that Metro Transit Police manually tracked the suspect. Using that information, they were able to come up with the name of their suspect, 35-year-old Jeffrey Gary.

Gary appeared in court Monday via video link, where his case was continued to July 7 at 1:30 p.m. He remains in custody without bond.

"We were able to capture the entire [Potomac Yard] incident on video and we were able to track our suspect throughout the system," Alvarez says, noting that Metro has 30,000 security cameras as part of their system.

Police would not answer Fox 5’s questions on how they were able to come up with a name for this suspect.  Chief McGuire says Gary does not have a criminal history.

Both Metro Transit and Alexandria Police have both charged Gary with four total counts: two abduction charges and two battery charges.

While safety on Metro has improved, Chief McGuire says it’s important to be mindful of your surroundings.

"This case underscores the importance of just remaining vigilant of making sure that you’re familiar with your whereabouts and it also underscores the importance of technology in our community, and all police departments, how we work together to ensure the safety of those who have been victims of crimes," McGuire said.

Gary is currently being held without bond.

A request for comment to a family member has not been returned.