Dispatch audio reveals how Paul Pelosi alerted police to hammer attacker during secret 911 call

Dispatch audio has revealed how Nancy Pelosi’s husband managed to alert authorities that he was under attack from a hammer-wielding assailant by speaking in code in a secret 911 call.

Paul Pelosi relayed to law enforcement that a man called “David” had broken into his San Francisco home and planned to lie in “wait” for his House Speaker wife, according to a dispatcher.

Mr Pelosi, 82, described the man as “a friend” – in an apparent attempt to keep the 911 call under wraps from the alleged attacker David DePape.

In a police audio clip, from 2.28am local time, the dispatcher is heard telling another operator that the caller “stated that there is a male in his home and he is going to wait for his wife”.

The caller, later identified as Mr Pelosi, “stated that he does not know who the man is but said that his name is David and that he is a friend”, the operator said.

Police revealed on Friday evening that Mr Pelosi had managed to call police to the home by secretly dialling 911 from his cellphone and speaking in “code”.

The 82-year-old left the line open as he spoke to Mr PePape, enabling the dispatcher to hear the interaction without alerting the assailant to what was happening.

The operator heard Mr Pelosi asking: “What’s going on? Why are you here? What are you doing to me?”

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott praised the “intuition and quick-thinking” of the dispatcher who realised the call was suspicious and dispatched law enforcement to the property as an emergency.

The first police officers were on the scene within three minutes.

“She figured out there was something more to what she was being told, her actions resulted in a higher priority dispatch and a quicker police response. I think this was life-saving,” he said.

Police sources told CNN that Mr DePape was searching for Speaker Pelosi and entered the home shouting “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?”

The attacker then allegedly tried to tie Mr Pelosi up in the aim of waiting until his wife returned home.

The House Speaker was in Washington DC at the time.

When officers arrived on the scene, the attacker allegedly said that they were “waiting for Nancy”.

Chief Scott said that “someone inside” the home opened the front door and the officers saw both Mr Pelosi and Mr DePape with their hands on one hammer.

At that moment, Mr DePape pulled the hammer away from Mr Pelosi and “violently assaulted” him with it, striking him at least once, the police chief said.

The officers tackled Mr DePape to the ground and administered medical aid to Mr Pelosi.

It is currently unclear if Mr DePape brought the hammer to the home or if it belonged to the Pelosis.

Xural.com