The Northern District of San Francisco — where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelsoi, was attacked on Friday morning in their Pacific Heights home — has seen a nearly 30% increase in assaults so far this year compared to the same time period last year.
David DePape assaulted Pelosi, 82, with a hammer just before 2:30 a.m. Friday at the couple's multimillion-dollar San Francisco estate, according to officials. Nancy Pelosi was not present in the home at the time.
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has recorded 254 assaults in the Northern District so far this year compared to 197 at the same time last year, representing a 29% increase. There were 249 total assaults in the Northern District in 2021 compared to 216 total assaults in 2020, 265 total assaults in 2019, 258 total assaults in 2018 and 241 total assaults in 2017.
The Northern District has also seen the highest number of assaults through October so far this year compared to all years prior until 2017 — the earliest year the SFPD's online crime statistics portal begins.
Robbery and burglary incidents in the Northern District are down year-over year, with 239 robberies reported so far this year compared to 276 at the same time last year. There have been 762 burglary incidents so far in 2022 compared to more than 1,100 in October of last year.
While robbery incidents in San Francisco have decreased citywide since at least 2018, more than half of respondents in a September poll by the San Francisco Chronicle said they had been the victim of a theft over the last five years, and about a quarter of respondents said they had been physically attacked or threatened, according to the newspaper.
Last year, SFPD recorded 56 citywide homicides — an increase compared to 2020, 2019 and 2018 but a decrease compared to 2017, when the department also recorded 56 homicides. In the Northern District, there has also been a slight increase in homicides year-over-year with six reported so far in 2022 compared to five at the same time last year.
PAUL PELOSI SAN FRANCISCO ATTACK: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT VIOLENT HOME INVASION
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told reporters Friday that police received a call at 2:27 a.m. for a report of a break-in at the Pelosi home, and arrived to find Paul Pelosi and DePape "both holding a hammer." DePape, 42, "pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it," Scott said.
The Associated Press reported Pelosi was severely beaten with a hammer and suffered blunt force injuries. The attacker allegedly shouted, "Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?" a law enforcement source confirmed to Fox News.
He was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, according to officials.
FBI agents could be seen at the home on Friday morning. In a statement provided to Fox News on Friday, a spokesperson for the FBI's San Francisco Field Office said investigators "are working to determine the facts of what happened, including the motive behind the attack."
Certain areas of San Francisco have been more impacted by crime than others, including the Tenderloin District, where Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency last year.
Fox News' Michael Lundin, Stephanie Pagones and David Spunt contributed to this report.
