Paul Pelosi - the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - discreetly called 911 while speaking to a man accused of attacking him with a hammer on Friday.
Law enforcement officials have praised the 911 dispatch operator who used her experience and intuition in order to send help to Paul Pelosi.
Per CNN, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told reporters on Friday that Mr. Pelosi had initially alerted the emergency services to a home invader who attacked the 82-year-old with a hammer just after 2:00AM on Friday morning.
With the assailant inside his home, Mr. Pelosi discreetly called 911 and continued to keep the line open so that the operator could hear the ongoing conversation.
"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,” Jenkins told CNN.
Additionally, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said of the operator: "She knew something more was going on, just in her heart and her intuition, just with her experience."
Mr. Pelosi reportedly "spoke in code" and said audibly to the home invader: "What’s going on? Why are you here? What are you going to do to me?"
"[The operator] just knew there was more to it," Scott said. "So she alerted our officers, she went that extra step … and that led to a quicker response."
"When you have an experienced dispatcher with good instincts, they learn how to read between the lines,” Scott added.
Officers arrived at the Pelosi home at around 2:27AM (local time) to find the 81-year-old physically struggling to obtain a hammer from another man. The moment was captured on the officers' body cameras.
The alleged attacker has been named as David DePape, with CNN reporting that the suspect was unaware Pelosi had called 911.
Per his wife's spokesperson, Mr. Pelosi has since undergone successful surgery in order to treat a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. It is expected that he will make a full recovery.
The suspect was also transported to a hospital, where he was also treated for injuries sustained in the attack.
"The suspect is still in the hospital, but let me say this: we intend to book the suspect, whether it’s in absentia or whether it’s in person — he will be booked for felony charges," Police Chief Scott added.
Rep. Bennie Thompson has since said in a statement that "every elected official, regardless of political party, should be outraged" by the incident and should speak out to "publicly condemn what happened".
During the time of the attack, Nancy Pelosi was in Washington with her security detail.
Officials are urging anybody with any information relating to the attack to call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444. People can also text TIP411 and open a conversation with the police department.
