When police were sent to the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul around 2:30 a.m. Friday, they were told there was a man there waiting for Nancy, but he was described on the call as a “friend.”
David DePape, 42, is accused of entering the Pelosi home and hitting Paul Pelosi, the speaker’s husband, with a hammer, according to CNN.
An audio recording of what a dispatcher told police was posted to Twitter by journalist Greg Price.
Police dispatch to Paul Pelosi home:
“RP (reporting person) stated there’s a male in the home and that he’s going to wait for his wife. RP stated that he doesn’t know who the male is but he advised that his name is David and that he is a friend.”
pic.twitter.com/O0HeS0s0I5— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 28, 2022
“RP (reporting person) stated there’s a male in the home and that he’s going to wait for his wife. RP stated that he doesn’t know who the male is but he advised that his name is David and that he is a friend.”
“RP sounded somewhat confused,” the dispatcher added.
CNN portrayed the exchange as “a coded plea for help,” saying Pelosi “left the line open so a dispatcher could hear his conversation with the intruder, speaking surreptitiously but making it clear that he needed help.”
Will there be more details about this attack coming to light?
Yes: 67% (2 Votes)
No: 33% (1 Votes)
As of Friday night, DePape was in a hospital, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said during a media briefing, according to CNN.
Scott did not explain how DePape was injured.
Scott said when officers arrived at the Pelosi home, they knocked and “the door was opened by someone inside.”
Scott did not explain who opened the door.
Scott said officers saw Pelosi and another man struggle to gain control of a hammer.
As police told the two to stop their fight, Pelosi lost the battle for the hammer and was hit on the head at least once, Scott said.
Police then tackled the man with the hammer, Scott said.
On Friday, CNN, citing a source it did not name, reported that DePape had asked Paul Pelosi “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?” That report also said the intruder had tried to tie Pelosi up.
The CNN report said DePape told police he was “waiting for Nancy.”
Pelosi, 82, underwent a “successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands,” Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, said Friday, CNN reported.
DePape is part of a nudist advocacy group, state Sen. Scott Wiener said, according to KRON-TV.
“I’ve been aware of him for a long time because he was associated with the public nudity folks in the Castro. It’s a long history with him,” Wiener said.
The TV station said DePape has picketed naked at San Francisco Bay area protests against laws that require people to wear clothes in public.
