The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi covertly called 911 and made statements to alert authorities of an emergency without tipping off the intruder who would later attack him with a hammer, potentially saving his life, CNN reports.
Paul Pelosi called emergency dispatchers around 2 a.m. Friday after a man, later identified as David DePape, broke into the couple’s San Francisco home. Unbeknownst to DePape, Paul Pelosi had dialed 911 and began making statements indicating a problem.
“What’s going on? Why are you here? What are you going to do to me?” Paul Pelosi reportedly said during the encounter while a dispatcher was on the other end of the line, according to CNN.
Fortunately, the dispatcher, Heather Grimes, picked up on what Paul Pelosi was saying and suspected a dire situation, prompting her to order an expedited wellness check.
“It is really thanks to Mr. Pelosi having the ability to be able to make that call, and truly the attention and the instincts of that dispatcher to realize that something was wrong in that situation and to make the police call a priority so they got there within two minutes to respond to this situation,” San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in an interview with CNN.
At a press conference on Friday, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott also praised Grimes for her “good instincts” and reading “between the lines.”
When police officers arrived at the home, 82-year-old Paul Pelosi was attempting to seize the hammer from DePape, but DePape managed to strike Pelosi on the head before officers were able to detain him.
The incident was reportedly captured by police body cameras.
Medics rushed Paul Pelosi to the hospital, where he underwent surgery for a skull fracture and injuries to his right hand and arm. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Investigators believe DePape was targeting Nancy Pelosi; he allegedly broke in through a sliding glass door and said he was looking for Nancy Pelosi, KGO-TV reports.
“Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?” DePape allegedly shouted, according to CNN.
DePape also allegedly tried to tie up Paul Pelosi “until Nancy got home,” according to CNN, which reported that when officers arrived, DePape told them he was “waiting for Nancy.”
Nancy Pelosi had been in Washington with her security detail at the time of the incident. She flew back to San Francisco upon learning of the attack.
Prosecutors are expected to charge DePape with attempted murder, elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, and potentially multiple other felonies.
An individual with the same name as DePape had posted conspiracy theories on social media about the 2020 election, the January 6 attack, and COVID vaccines, according to CNN.
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[Feature Photo: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her husband, Paul Pelosi, attend the 42nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors at The Kennedy Center on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, in Washington. (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP)]
