Denis James, president of the Kalorama Citizens Association, was whacked across the head with a pole, crowbar or some other iron bar-like instrument at 7 p.m. last Thursday. Whatever the implement, the lick left quite a gash.

A vocal presence in the Kalorama/Adams Morgan communities, James says he clearly was targeted for violence as he made his way to his monthly association meeting at the Good Will Baptist Church. His attacker, he said, had been lurking on the front steps of an adjoining home in the 1800 block of Kalorama Road, hidden by a retaining wall, and ignoring other passers-by.