Police: Arlington Man Cut Outside Crystal City Metro

An Arlington man was cut during an attempted robbery outside of the Crystal City Metro Station early Sunday, according to police.

The victim told police he was leaving the station, in the 1800 block of South Jefferson Davis Highway, at about 4 a.m. Sunday when another man approached him from behind.

"He asks for a cigarette and then demands the guy's money," police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck told Patch. "Our victim says no, and that's when our subject allegedly pulls out a large knife and slashes him on his forearm."

The attacker ran away without getting any of the man's cash or other belongings, Sternbeck said.

The victim called police and was taken to the Virginia Hospital Center for an unknown number of stitches. He was treated and released.

Arlington police are working with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to obtain video of the incident, if any is available.

The victim is not a Metro employee. Trains stop running at 3 a.m. Sundays and start again at 7 a.m.

Police aren't sure, then, why the man was leaving the station at 4 a.m., Sternbeck said.

The man told authorities his attacker was about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighed about 180 pounds. He was wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers at the time of the incident, according to police.