WASHINGTON -- A Metro rider said a man who groped her got away because it took police too long to respond to her complaint News4 reported on Monday.

The woman said she is going to give up using the Metro and buy a car because of what happened on her morning commute. Another woman said her iPod was stolen by a group of teenage girls who mugged her. The two said they are sharing their stories in the hopes that Metro will make some security improvements.

One woman said she was groped by a man sitting next to her on a Metro train near the Friendship Heights station at around 9:30 a.m. on Monday.

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"He reached over and grabbed, like rubbed, my thigh and then put his hand up underneath my shirt and grabbed me," the woman said. "That's when I jumped up and said, 'Excuse me!' And I said, 'No!'"

After the assault, the woman said she got off the train at the Bethesda station and notified the manager.

"The station manager said he couldn't do anything about it," the woman said. "He said, 'I'm sorry, I can't do anything. I can't go and arrest him.' By the time the police got there, the guy was gone."

The woman and two witnesses said it took Metro transit police 15 minutes to get there. The woman and the witnesses said they were told not every station has an officer on duty.

"The incident itself was frightening, but the reaction was more disturbing to me, because I realized that Metro station operators can't do anything for you in an emergency like that," said witness Gail Neyland. "Cameras should be on the cars, definitely."

One woman who helped the assault victim said just last week a group of teenage girls mugged her and stole her iPod while she was riding a Metro train.

"The Metro is clearly not anywhere near ready for an attack -- a terrorist attack," said the woman. "It's not even ready for teenage girls."

Metro officials said both incidents are under investigation, News4 reported. It was still unclear why it took so long for Metro police to respond to the groping complaint, but they said the station manager did act properly.

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