Cops: Pregnant woman gets the best of assailant

When career criminal Vaughn Matthews decided to snatch a woman's purse and run from a stopped El train last Wednesday, he perhaps thought Lindsay O'Brien - who is nearly three months' pregnant - would be an easy target.

But the attempted robbery quickly turned into a street fight, and it was the criminal who ended up on the ground in agony, according to police.

O'Brien, 28, was on a westbound train at 63rd and Market streets about 1:30 p.m. when Matthews, 42, punched her in the forehead, grabbed her bag - which contained her laptop - and ran down a stairwell and onto the street below, police said.

O'Brien chased Matthews, who has an extensive criminal history - including assault, reckless endangerment and robbery charges, according to court documents - and fought him.

When O'Brien tried wrenching her bag from Matthews' grip, he allegedly twisted her right arm and broke her wrist. O'Brien countered by kicking his leg.

A visibly pregnant O'Brien told CBS 3 that Matthews then used his forearm to hit her in the abdomen. That's when she planted a kick that broke Matthews' tibia in two places and sent him limping away, defeated.

O'Brien, of Ridley Park, got her bag and was treated for her broken wrist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Police found Matthews lying on the ground at 62nd and Market, and arrested him.

Police said Matthews will need two surgeries at Hahnemann University Hospital.

"She really did a number on his leg," said Detective Robert Daly, of the Southwest Detective Division. "I would never want to get kicked by this girl."

Matthews faces charges of aggravated assault, robbery, theft, receiving stolen property and reckless endangerment.