Carol Moseley Braun attacked outside home

CHICAGO —  Two University of Chicago students were credited with thwarting a man attempting to rob former U.S. Sen Carol Moseley Braun.

Moseley Braun was attacked and injured shortly before midnight Friday outside her Hyde Park home on the city’s South Side, according to police and eyewitnesses.

Rachel McFadden, 19, and Zachary Trayes-Gibson, 21, both biology students at UC, were heading to a party when they heard a woman scream. McFadden rushed to Moseley Braun’s aid and Trayes-Gibson chased the would-be robber away.

“We just looked at each other and started running toward her,” McFadden recalled Saturday, hours after what police described as an attempted robbery. “There were no second thoughts.”

Moseley Braun, the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Senate and onetime presidential hopeful, had just returned from seeing the play “Wicked” downtown with a family member.

A man wearing dark clothing tried to steal her purse, and in the ensuing struggle 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. He said the man eventually ducked behind some cars, then came out 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 represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate from 1992 to 1998, championing education, healthcare reform and civil rights.

She lost her reelection bid to Peter Fitzgerald in 1998, but 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.

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.”