Former Senator to Mugger: 'Why Would You Do This to a Grandma?'

Former Sen. Barbara Boxer was assaulted and robbed in Oakland on Monday afternoon, but the 80-year-old was not seriously hurt. The California Democrat was in the Jack London Square neighborhood, an entertainment district on the waterfront, when she was attacked, NBC News reports. "The assailant pushed her in the back, stole her cell phone and jumped in a waiting car. She is thankful that she was not seriously injured," reads a tweet on her account. The suspect escaped in a car that was waiting nearby, and police are offering a reward for information leading to an arrest, CNN reports.

"He pushed me very hard... and before I could follow him, he grabbed my phone," Boxer tells CNN, adding that she doesn't think the suspect knew who she was. "I was yelling at the kid, 'Why would you do this to a grandma?' but he could care less," she says. Boxer represented California for 10 years as a US representative and 24 years as a senator before retiring in 2016. (More Barbara Boxer stories.)