Two women were groped in Springfield within a half an hour of each other Wednesday afternoon, and detectives are looking into the possibility that they are the 16th and 17th victims of a serial groper, Fairfax County police officials said.

In the first of the Wednesday attacks, which took place at about 3:10 p.m., a 30-year-old woman was walking south on Dinwiddie Street near Dana Avenue when she was grabbed from behind and groped.