By TimesLedger Staff
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) was mugged Tuesday night near Capitol Hill in Washington by an attacker who stole her purse, she said.
Meng said she was walking toward her Washington apartment after having dinner at a restaurant when she was struck in the back of the head near Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. As she fell to the ground, the perpetrator took her handbag, then fled on foot, she said.
She suffered a bruise on her chin and underwent a CAT scan at George Washington University Hospital, the lawmaker said.
The Washington Post reported that police had found Meng disoriented with bruising and swelling to the back of her head and injuries to her left knee, hand and face. She was also unable to remember where she was robbed or describe her attacker, the Post reported.
After the incident, officers were able to grab fingerprints from an old cellphone that had fallen out of her purse, the Post reported.
The congresswoman released a statement Wednesday saying she was not seriously hurt and did not suffer any serious losses.
“While this was a frightening ordeal, I fortunately was not seriously injured,” Meng said. “Obviously, things could have been much worse. I thank the U.S. Capitol Police and the District of Columbia Police for responding quickly and professionally.”
No arrests have been made as of press time, but U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Lt. Kimberly Schneider told the Post an active open investigation was underway.
Meng was back at it on Capitol Hill Wednesday for procedural votes and told reporters she was “just taking it a little slower today,” the Post reported.
Meng, 38, is a freshman lawmaker representing northeast Queens with a district office in Flushing. She was the first Asian American to be elected to Congress from New York state. She was also the first Asian-Amerian woman to be elected to the state Legislature back when she was elected to the state Assembly.
