A Michigan congressman was found unconscious and bleeding several blocks from the Capitol after being beaten and robbed, police say.
Rep. Bob Traxler, 60, was admitted early Thursday to a Washington hospital where he was reported in good condition after receiving a number of stitches. Doctors who examined him said he will not be released until Friday, said Jan Teeple-Hughes, a spokeswoman for the hospital."Officers found a man lying in the street at New Jersey and D streets Northwest," said Dan Nichols, a spokesman for the U.S. Capitol police. "He was bleeding profusely from the forehead and was unconscious when the officers reached him, but he regained consciousness as they rendered aid."
Traxler, a Democrat first elected to Congress in 1974, told officers that as he entered his vehicle, he was approached from behind by a man who demanded money before striking him in the head with a blunt object.
The assailant then went through the congressman's pockets and made off with $8, Nichols said. The robber apparently put the wallet back in Traxler's pocket before fleeing, he added.
Traxler's office said he had attended a dinner engagement at the Hyatt-Regency Washington Hotel on Capitol Hill. The attack occurred about 1:30 a.m. EDT.
Violent crime has been an ongoing problem on Capitol Hill.
Recently, Tom Barnes, an aide to Sen. Richard Shelby, D-Ala., was shot to death as he walked near his home eight blocks from the Capitol.