WCCO morning news host Steve Murphy was robbed and assaulted while jogging to a South Minneapolis bus stop early last Thursday on his way to work, according to WCCO.com. Hospitalized with cuts to his face, the well-known radio personality has taken a leave from his job to recover.

Murphy, who usually runs the mile from home to the bus stop during his early morning commute, told WCCO that he was jogging at 2:30 a.m. when he saw a white SUV slowly following him. He said he took a different route, but the SUV caught up to him near the corner of E. 53rd St. and 13th Ave. S.

Several men got out of the SUV and pushed him facedown onto the sidewalk, taking his wallet. Murphy said he stumbled to the bus, and the driver took him to Hennepin County Medical Center, which was on the driver's route. Murphy told WCCO that he recognized one of the men from recently published mugshots from another aggravated robbery in Anoka County.

Some 1,622 robberies have been reported to Minneapolis police so far this year, a 7 percent gain over last year, and a 19 percent gain from two years ago. Looking at just the South Minneapolis precinct where Murphy was assaulted, robberies have fallen 14 percent this year, from 517 to 447 for the period that runs Jan. 1 to Nov. 11.