Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi. (Image via Paul Morigi/Getty Images.)
Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif. 12), was attacked in his home this morning, according to a statement from Mrs. Pelosi’s office and a similar statement from U.S. Capitol Police. A suspect in the incident David DePape, 42, was charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary, and “several” other felonies, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced around 10:30 Pacific time.
Scott confirmed that his officers caught DePape beating Pelosi with a hammer and “tackled” the suspect to the ground.
Scott said Pelosi and the suspect were “both” holding the hammer.
“The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with hit,” Scott said. “Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup, and rendered medical aid.”
Citing two unnamed sources, the Associated Press said Mr. Pelosi “suffered blunt force trauma to his head and body.” His injuries, according to those AP sources, included “bruising, severe swelling and other injuries.”
ABC’s Terry Moran and CNN’s Zachary Cohen, the latter citing CNN’s Jamie Gangel, both tweeted that the suspect was looking for the House Speaker herself and that the attack was targeted.
BREAKING: The break in at Nancy Pelosi’s house is suspected to be targeted, law enforcement sources tell ABC News. The suspect allegedly entered the house through a sliding glass door, carrying a hammer, and was apparently looking for the House Speaker herself. 1/2
— Terry Moran 🇺🇸 (@TerryMoran) October 28, 2022
The assailant who attacked Paul Pelosi was in search for the Speaker of the House, a source tells @jamiegangel.
The intruder confronted the Speaker’s husband in their San Francisco home shouting “where is Nancy, where is Nancy?,” according to the source.
— Zachary Cohen (@ZcohenCNN) October 28, 2022
The full Pelosi announcement reads as follows:
Early this morning, an assailant broke into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and violently assaulted Mr. Pelosi. The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation. 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 Speaker and her family are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time.
The San Francisco Police Department retweeted Sgt. Adam Lobsinger’s reference to the incident. That tweet said the attack happened at 2:27 a.m. in the “2600 block of Broadway” and involved “a home break-in.”
On 10/28/22, at 2:27 am, SFPD responded to the 2600 block of Broadway for a home break-in. During the incident an 82 y/o male was attacked. The suspect was taken into custody. The victim was transported to a local hospital. SFPD Chief Scott will address the media at police HQ.
— Sergeant Adam Lobsinger (@SgtLobsinger) October 28, 2022
The U.S. Capitol Police Department issued its own statement on the matter; it said it was “assisting” both the local authorities and the FBI with the matter.
That statement noted that the Capitol Police maintain a California Field Office and that special agents assigned there “quickly arrived on the scene.” Investigators with a threat assessment team were “simultaneously dispatched from the East Coast” to join the probe.
The capitol police said the motive for the attack remains under investigation.
The capitol police also said the House Speaker was in Washington, D.C., with her security detail when the alleged attack happened.
Paul Pelosi is 82. He owns Financial Leasing Services, a multi-million-dollar San Francisco-based venture capital and real estate firm. Recently, he was sentenced to serve five days in jail on a misdemeanor conviction for drunk driving in Napa County, California.
Video recorded by San Francisco MyNetworkTV affiliate KRON at 6:15 a.m. Pacific time showed that police had taped off what a reporter on the scene described as most or all of a city block surrounding the Pelosi home.
Video recorded outside the Pelosi residence by KRON-TV barely showed a lit window (visible to the left of and behind the stop sign) in the pre-dawn darkness. Police vehicles were parked up and down the street, including to the right of the frame seen here. The home at right appeared to be an unconnected residence based on a KRON reporter’s description of the scene.
By daybreak, more of the scene was visible.
A KRON-TV screengrab shows what one of that television station’s reporters described as Nancy and Paul Pelosi’s residence (center).
San Francisco ABC affiliate KGO noted that the Pelosi home is in the Pacific Heights neighborhood north of the city’s downtown area.
KRON noted that the Pelosi house had been “vandalized, according to San Francisco police,” on Jan. 1, 2021 “in the lead-up to the violent insurrection at the United States Capitol.” In that incident, “unidentified suspect(s) had painted graffiti on the garage door and left a pig’s head on the sidewalk,” KRON reported, both quoting and citing the police.
The New York Times indicated that the Pelosis married in 1963 and bought the house where the attack occurred in 1987. The couple met at at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
This is a developing story. It has been updated several times since its initial publication.
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