UPDATE: The suspect accused of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer has been identified as 42-year-old David Depape by the San Francisco Police Department.
Chief William “Bill” Scott of the San Francisco Police Department said officers were dispatched to the Pelosi residence in the Pacific Heights neighborhood at 2:27 a.m. Friday. Upon arrival they encountered the suspect and Paul Pelosi, who both appeared to be wrestling over the hammer.
Depape “pulled the hammer away from Paul and violently attacked him with it,” Scott said, the New York Post reported.
“Our officers tackled the suspect, disarmed him and took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid,” he added.
Both Pelosi and Depape were transported to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, where NBC reported Pelosi was undergoing surgery.
According to the chief, Depape has been booked on several charges, including attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary, and “several other additional felonies.”
Police are still trying to determine a motive for the attack.
SAN FRANCISCO – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was hospitalized early Friday morning after an intruder broke into their San Francisco home and battered the 82-year-old businessman with a hammer, his wife’s spokesman said.
Nancy Pelosi was not present at the couple’s $6 million townhome when her husband was “violently assaulted,” according to a statement from her spokesman, Drew Hammill.
“The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation,” he said. “Mr. Pelosi was taken to the hospital, where he is receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery. The Speaker was not in San Francisco at the time.”
The unnamed 42-year-old suspect is in custody, law enforcement authorities confirmed with CNN.
According to the news outlet sources, the attacker entered through the back of the home sometime prior to 2:30 a.m.
The suspect who assaulted Paul Pelosi tried to tie him up “until Nancy got home,” sources said. When the police arrived, the assailant was saying he was “waiting for Nancy.”
Hammill said the Pelosis “are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time.”
According to the U.S. Capitol Police, the case is a combined investigation involving the San Francisco Police Department, FBI, and Capitol Police, the Daily Wire reported.
Capitol Police said that staff from the field office “quickly arrived on scene, while a team of investigators from the Department’s Threat Assessment Section was simultaneously dispatched from the East Coast to assist the FBI and the San Francisco Police with a joint investigation.”
With Speaker Pelosi away, there would not have been a security detail at the residence, according to one source familiar with protocol.
Paul Pelosi was arrested in May for DUI following a two-vehicle crash. He pled guilty to the charge in August and received a sentence that includes three years of probation, restitution to the victim and a three-month DUI program. He must also have a certified ignition device installed on his vehicle for a year.
