(Reuters) – Federal law-enforcement officials have filed a criminal complaint in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco against David DePape, the 42-year-old man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Here are the main elements of the complaint, which is based on accounts by police officers and interviews with Paul Pelosi and DePape:
* The complaint accuses DePape of committing two federal crimes: the attempted kidnapping of a federal official; and assault on the immediate family member of a federal official. DePape is also expected to soon face separate charges from the San Francisco district attorney’s office for breaking California laws.
* The complaint, filed by a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, says DePape was prepared to “detain and injure” Nancy Pelosi and that he arrived at the Pelosis’ three-story townhouse with zip ties, tape, rope and at least one hammer, which he used to attack Paul Pelosi.
* Paul Pelosi made an emergency 911 call at 2:23 a.m. on Oct. 28 to report that a man he did not know was in his home, and that the man told him that he planned “to wait for Pelosi’s wife.”
* About 8 minutes later, Colby Wilmes, a San Francisco police officer, knocked on the Pelosis’ front door. It was opened to reveal Pelosi and DePape struggling over a hammer. When the officer asked the men what was going on, DePape responded “that everything was good.”
* DePape then pulled the hammer from Pelosi’s hand and swung it, striking Pelosi’s head and knocking him unconscious, according to the complaint. Police officers restrained DePape. DePape told police officers his identification might be in his backpack on the back porch near the broken glass from a smashed door window.
* Police searched the backpack, finding a roll of tape, white rope, one hammer, one pair of rubber and cloth gloves and a journal. They found zip ties in Pelosi’s bedroom and in the house’s front hallway.
* Paul Pelosi told police he was asleep when DePape, whom he had never seen before, entered his bedroom, asking to see his wife. Pelosi said he was able to go into his bathroom to make a 911 call. DePape, in his own interview, gave a similar account to police.
* DePape told police in a recorded interview that he had broken in by smashing the glass in the rear door and that he planned to take Nancy Pelsoi hostage. He said if she were to tell DePape “the truth” then he would let her go, and that if she “lied” he was going to break her kneecaps, and that he was certain she would lie even so threatened. He said he thought the Democratic Party lied, and that he was targeting Nancy Pelosi in order to make a example of one of its leaders.
(Compiled by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
