Former U.S. senator injured in mugging

CHICAGO -- Former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Carol Moseley Braun suffered a broken wrist late Friday when a mugger tried to steal her purse as she tried to enter her home near the University of Chicago, authorities said Saturday.

Braun, who made a run for the presidency in 2004, had exited her car and was standing with a relative at her front door when her assailant came out of the bushes and tried to take her purse, according to her spokesman, Kevin Lampe.

When Braun resisted, the man produced a knife and cut the strap of the purse.

As Braun and the relative resisted the assailant, a University of Chicago student came to their aid, Lampe said.

"He is the hero of the day," he said.

During the course of the struggle, Braun fell, fracturing her left wrist as she tried to break her fall.

Braun's assailant eventually fled the scene without the purse, Lampe said.

Braun was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she was treated and released.

"She is resting at home," Lampe said Saturday afternoon.

Chicago police spokeswoman officer JoAnn Taylor said Braun's attacker had not yet been arrested.

Braun, a Democrat, became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, serving one term. She lost her re-election bid to Peter Fitzgerald in 1998. After her defeat, President Clinton appointed her ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.

Braun has recently been promoting a line of organic spices, teas and produce named Ambassador Organics -- an apparent nod to her work as a diplomat. In launching the business, Braun has said she wants to encourage Americans to eat healthier.