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CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN SURVIVES NEAR MUGGING: Former senator credits two college students with thwarting would-be robber.
*A man attempting to rob former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun was in for a rude awakening late Friday night in Chicago’s South Side as two college students came out of nowhere to drive the assailant away.
According to police and eyewitnesses, Moseley Braun broke her wrist while trying to fend off the attacker shortly before midnight outside her Hyde Park home. Two biology students at the University of Chicago were on their way to a party when they heard a woman scream.
Rachel McFadden, 19, rushed to Moseley Braun's aid, while Zachary Trayes-Gibson, 21, chased the would-be robber away.
"We just looked at each other and started running toward her," McFadden recalled to the Chicago Tribune Saturday, hours after what police described as an attempted robbery. "There were no second thoughts."
Moseley Braun, the first African American U.S. Senator had just returned from seeing the play "Wicked" downtown with a family member when a man in dark clothing tried to steal her purse. As she struggled with the man, she apparently fell to the ground and broke her left wrist. She was taken to Northwestern University Hospital, where she was treated and released.
While McFadden helped Moseley Braun off the ground and dialed 911, Trayes-Gibson chased the man down the street and in between some cars. After ducking down, the man then emerged brandishing a weapon. Trayes-Gibson at first thought it was a gun, until the blade flashed in the glow of the street lights.
Trayes-Gibson backed away from the man, who didn't say a word. He said the man slid into a dark green sport-utility vehicle parked nearby and sped away. Police canvassed the neighborhood Saturday, interviewing residents in an attempt to get more information.
Detectives are investigating whether the attack is connected to other crimes in the area. Between April 8 and 21, four robberies were reported within a half-mile of Moseley Braun's home, police records show.
Moseley Braun, who will turn 60 in August, was "in good spirits" Saturday, according to her spokesman, and appreciated what Trayes-Gibson and McFadden had done.
"She considers them her heroes," spokesman Kevin Lampe said. She "is very grateful to them."
Moseley Braun represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate from 1992 to 1998, when she lost her reelection bid to Peter Fitzgerald. She sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2004. More recently she has become an organic-foods entrepreneur, launching a line of spices, teas and coffees.
