Former California Senator Barbara Boxer was attacked and robbed in the Jack London District of Oakland



Former California Senator Barbara Boxer was attacked and robbed near Oakland's Jack London Square on Monday.


A post on Boxer's Twitter page said, "The attacker pushed him from behind, stole his cellphone, and jumped out of the waiting car. She is grateful that she was not harmed.

A robbery armed with heavy weapons took place near his home at about 1:15 pm. Monday afternoon. He was out talking about the new iPhone he bought two days ago. He said he had never seen a weapon in a teenage boy.


The 80-year-old Boxer later told KPIX 5 that he was moved, but he was not injured otherwise. Boxer said he walked a few blocks from a Verizon store after a robbery to call the police.


Verizon's employee, Joseph Hawken, said Boxer entered his store to get help and waited for police. Hawken had sold Boxer on an iPhone two days ago.


I just know she's shaking, she's so scared, she's worried. It’s hard, emotional stress. And now I was going to help him, get him water, whatever he wanted, said Joseph Hawken.


"I'm really saddened by this experience because here's a single grandma, on her phone, and very young people have been attacked," Boxer said. “I was not harmed in any way. I'm just moved. "


The two assailants appear to be under 18 years of age; one was a driver, one was an attacker, Boxer said.


“Yeah, you pushed me so hard,” Boxer said. “It's hard for me to explain what happened because it was so fast, but, when I started to move away from him, he came up behind me, pushed me hard, and before I fell I felt like I was holding my phone in front of me, so it's hard to put it all together. ”

The boxer said he spoke to his attackers before they left.


"I said," Why would you do this to hundreds? "I yelled at the child when he ran away with my phone," he laughed. "I said, 'I want to call my grandchildren, why are you doing this?' He could have cared less. He got in the car. But I hope he is guilty."

Police were looking for a black car. A police source told KPIX that the youths were involved in other burglaries and attacks in the past few days.


Police believe the robbery against Boxer was a crime because his iPhone was worth more than a thousand dollars.


Boxer retired in 2017. But he says he is still working behind the scenes for young people.


“No silver bullet, okay? We need to do so many things, give our children hope for the future, give them a chance, education, jobs, all those things, after-school programs (programs). But even when they get out of line, they follow, ”said Boxer.


Police are still searching for teenage boys. They did not release any suspicious comments.


Boxing Service served as U.S. Senator California from 1993 to 2017 after serving as U.S. Attorney for the 6th District of California from 1983 to 1993.


The Oakland Police Department and Criminals provided $ 2,000 for information leading to the arrest. Anyone with information was asked to call the OPD's Robbery Section on (510) 238-3326 or 510) 777- 8572