Democrat Congresswoman Grace Meng was clobbered in the head and robbed of her Gucci purse in Washington D.C. on Tuesday night.
The politician, who represents the Queens borough of New York City, said that she was having dinner in Capitol Hill's Eastern Market when she was hit in the back of the head and knocked unconscious, according to the Associated Press.
Meng suffered scratches on her knees and arms, bruises on her cheeks and chin, and a headache, but was not seriously injured. She was taken to George Washington University Hospital after the incident and underwent a CAT scan.
"I didn't see anyone coming," Meng told the New York Daily News. "I just got hit on the head. I must have fallen. Next thing I remember, after I was hit, was being in the ambulance and Capitol Police and [D.C. police] were helping."
The Congresswoman told AP that she'd dined with a friend at a restaurant in the specialty goods market located seven blocks east of the Capitol, and was walking back to her apartment when she felt a thwack on the back of her head. When she fell to the ground, she hit her chin on the sidewalk. The assailant reportedly grabbed her Gucci handbag and ran away.
"They came from behind," she said. "I didn't see anyone."
D.C. police said that they'd found and drawn fingerprints from an old phone that the robber had thrown from her purse.
Meng had another cloth tote bag that the thief did not manage to nab, which held most of her valuables including an iPhone, cash and credit cards.
38-year-old Meng, a Congress freshwoman who is the first Asian-American representative from New York, said that she was shaken, but in fine health. She'd never been mugged in her life, she added.
"I have not - you know, I'm from New York City and I have not been mugged like that," she told AP.
