Angie Craig, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota who was assaulted in her Washington apartment, reportedly deterred her attacker by pouring hot coffee over him, it emerged on Friday.

“Representative Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically OK,” her chief of staff, Nick Coe, said in a statement on Thursday.

Coe said Craig called 911 and the attacker fled the scene. He said there was “no evidence” that the incident was politically motivated.

Craig was elected to the House of Representatives in 2018. She became the first openly gay person elected to Congress from Minnesota.

District of Columbia police said on Thursday night that they had arrested a suspect. The police report noted that Craig tossed hot coffee at her assailant.

Craig was assaulted in the elevator in her Washington apartment building around 7.10am on Thursday, police said, but the assailant fled when she defended herself.

Craig suffered bruises while escaping serious injury in the attack, which did not appear to be politically motivated, Coe had said in a statement.

Washington’s Metropolitan police department said it had arrested 26-year-old Kendrick Hamlin, of no fixed address, and charged him with simple assault.

Craig, 50, is in her third term in the House and later headed for Capitol Hill to vote.

The police said Craig told them that she initially saw the stranger in her building and said good morning before she entered the elevator and the man followed her in. He apparently began randomly doing push-ups. She told the police he was “acting erratic as if he was under the influence of an unknown substance”.

However, he then punched Craig on the chin and grabbed her by her neck, the police noted. She told them that she managed to throw her coffee on him and he then fled.

Law enforcement who responded to her emergency call searched the building and the parking garage and asked for tips from the public, offering a potential $1,000 reward and, a few hours later, apprehended the suspect.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, a fellow Minnesota Democrat, tweeted: “To give you a sense of how strong Angie Craig is, she went straight to the Hill this morning and attended a meeting in the Senate with the Governor and me and several members of our delegation about legislation for the people of her district. No one messes with Angie.”

Hakeem Jeffries, House leader of the Democrats, said his caucus was “horrified” by Craig’s assault.