Shoppers in the parking lot of the King Farm Safeway looked over their shoulders Thursday, fingers on the panic buttons of their car alarms’ remotes.
It was from this spot that a 25-year-old woman was abducted in the middle of the day Monday, driven off and raped.
Dan Hildt, 55, works as a consultant in the area, and frequently comes to the shopping center.
“I came here for Starbucks right after it happened,” he said Thursday. “I knew nothing about it until I read about it.”
He said his co-workers, some of whom are women, discussed ways to be safe before and after work.
“We’ve altered things in terms of people working late. Your guard is up for a while,” he said.
Some expressed shock that such a crime could happen here.
“Oh wow,” was all Pam Zolaluca, 30, of Derwood, could say when asked about the attack. She had been out of town until Thursday, and this was the first she’d heard of it.
“It’s such a safe … I mean this seems to be a really safe community. I’m surprised,” she said.
The attack won’t change her shopping patterns, though.
“It’s so random,” Zolaluca said. “I think it could happen anywhere.”
Montgomery County police say a 25-year old District woman was heading to her Honda CRV when a bald man with a knife forced her into the vehicle at about 11 a.m. Monday. During the next three hours, she told police, the man drove her to another location, raped her, forced her to withdraw money from an ATM machine, then abandoned her in Prince George’s County.
Police are worried about the randomness of the attack, which was still under investigation Thursday.
This was the first sexual assault in the King Farm planned community, police said. The roughly 5-year-old mix of housing and commercial development stretches across 430 acres in northern Rockville.
Police are looking for a bald black man in his early to mid-30s. He stood 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed about 175 pounds and wore a light gray sweatshirt, white Nike sneakers and a pale-blue and yellow basketball jersey.
Police are asking anyone with information about this incident to call 240-773-5070. Crime Solvers of Montgomery County is offering a reward for an arrest and indictment in the case at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
