Former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer said on social media that she was assaulted and robbed Monday afternoon near Oakland’s Jack London Square.
The 80-year-old Boxer was pushed in the back by an assailant who took her cell phone and then jumped into a waiting car, according to a post on her Twitter account.
“She is thankful that she was not seriously injured,” the post said.
Boxer served as a U.S. Senator from California from 1993 to 2017.
In response to inquiries, Oakland police would not name Boxer but released a statement saying that a robbery occurred in the area at 1:15 p.m., when a victim walking in the 300 block of 3rd Street was approached by a suspect.
“The suspect forcefully took loss from the victim, and fled in a nearby waiting vehicle,” police said in the short statement. “This incident is currently being investigated by the Oakland Police Department’s Robbery Section.”