Former California Sen. Barbara Boxer was assaulted and robbed while walking in Oakland on Monday afternoon.
The ex-congresswoman, 80, who retired in 2017, said she was attacked by an assailant in the city’s Jack London Square neighborhood.
“Well, he pushed me very hard,” Boxer later told Oakland’s KPIX.
“It’s hard for me to describe what happened because it was so fast, but, when I started to move away from him, he came behind me, pushed me hard, and then before I could fall it was like he grabbed my phone in front, so it’s just hard to put all together.”
Without identifying Boxer, Oakland police confirmed a robbery occurred in the neighborhood on the 300 block of 3rd Street at about 1:15 p.m.
The suspect punched the former lawmaker in the back and stole her phone before fleeing in a waiting car, according to a statement on Boxer’s Twitter page.
“She is thankful that she was not seriously injured,” the statement said.
Oakland police have not announced any arrests or released a description of the suspect.
Boxer described the thief as a “kid.”
“I said, ‘Why would you do this to a grandma?’ I was yelling at the kid as he was running with my phone,” Boxer said.
“I said ‘I want to call my grandkids, why are you doing this?’ He could care less. He got in the car. But I hope he has some guilt.”
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