‘Psychotic’ Homeless Man Attacks Pauley Perrette Outside Her Home — ‘I Almost Died Tonight’

Everyone knows Pauley Perrette for her NCIS character, brilliant forensic scientist Abby Sciuto. But on Thursday night, Perrette was the victim of a real-life violent crime after a “psychotic” homeless man attacked her in front of her Hollywood home.

Pauley, 46, told the harrowing story via Twitter, posting a picture of her computer screen on which was written a long account of the experience.

She posted the photo with the message “So, tonight was awful, life changing and I’m only grateful to be alive,” ABC News reported.

The attack appeared to have no clear motivation, and Perrette, who was violently beaten, is now recovering. Pauley’s attacker, an unnamed white man around 45-years-old, was tracked down and arrested for felony battery.

According to E! Online, Perrette was alone at the time and on her way to meet an architect to discuss designs for a guest house she purchased. Then, suddenly, she was “jumped by a VERY psychotic man.”

So, tonight was awful, life changing and I'm only grateful to be alive. It's here: pic.twitter.com/vXIT1pkVRc

— Pauley Perrette (@PauleyP) November 13, 2015

“[He] grabbed me so forcefully, pinned my arm, punched me in the nose, forehead repeatedly telling me he was going to kill me.”

Perrette wrote that the man told her how he was going to kill her and kept repeating his own name, William, and that she should never forget it.

“I was alone, terrified and trapped,” Pauley recalled. “There was an empty garage behind me and I knew if he got me in there I was dead.”

All she could do was pray and try to connect with her attacker. And remarkably, despite the horror of the moment, Perrette had the presence of mind to use a bit of information about her attacker to inspire him to stop — his name.

“I knew I couldn’t overcome him. I prayed my heart out and then finally said, ‘William is a beautiful name. I have a little nephew named William.”

He punched her more after that, then, finally, let her go after telling her to “get the f**k out of here.” Pauley said she then “went into shock” and collapsed on the sidewalk. While she lay there, a man on his phone walked right past her, “annoyed” and “did nothing,” but his dog licked her face. He kept going.

So Pauley texted two friends — one of whom was a cop — and was able to draw a sketch of her attacker’s face and the “murder in [his] eyes.” Her cop friend searched for the man — who Perrette said was headed for Hollywood Boulevard — found him, and had “William” brought in to police. He’s now being held on $100,000 bond on suspicion of felony battery.

CNN confirmed Pauley’s story with LAPD officer Ricardo Hernandez, who stated that the call about Perrette’s attack came in about 5:15 p.m.

Pauley didn’t detail the extent of her injuries, and it wasn’t clear if she spent any time in the hospital. Perrette has long been an advocate for civil and human rights causes, describing herself on her Twitter account as Abby on NCIS and a civil rights advocate. But after Thursday’s attack, Perrette said her world had been shaken, and she used the harrowing incident to not to express anger but to call for social change.

“I am shaken and traumatized. My house, my beloved Hollywood. My beloved homeless people that I spend my life protecting. My life changed tonight… We need full mental health care. We need housing and help for the homeless. We need to support our cops. We need to not walk alone. I need to heal. I almost died tonight.”

[Image via DFree / Shutterstock.com]