CHICAGO – A man was arrested in the attempted robbery that left former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Carol Moseley Braun with a broken wrist, police said.
Joseph A. Dixon, 38, of Chicago, was arrested and charged Sunday with attempted armed robbery and aggravated battery. He was held in jail and was to appear in bond court on Monday.
Braun was standing at her front door on April 27 when an assailant came out of the bushes and tried to take her purse. She was injured in a scuffle with the attacker, who fled without the purse after two University of Chicago students came to her aid.
The former senator picked Dixon out of a lineup, according to Sgt. Nancy Higgins.
Dixon has an extensive criminal record, including burglaries, criminal trespassing and assaults, according to authorities. He was also arrested on Friday for allegedly stealing cash from a tip jar at a Subway restaurant, Higgins said.
Braun, an Illinois Democrat, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992 and served one term. She lost a re-election bid to Peter Fitzgerald in 1998. President Clinton then appointed her ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa.
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