Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARASUPDATE: LAPD confirm to Perrette's story to E! News. The call came in around 5:15 and police arrested a 45-year-old man on felony assault and resides in jail on $100,000 bail.
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A homeless man attacked Pauley Perrette on her street, but thankfully her attacker has since been arrested.
The NCIS actress tweeted about the incident early Friday morning, recapping the terrifying incident start to finish. She said she was "jumped by a VERY psychotic homeless man," who she said "grabbed me so forcefully, pinned my arm, punched me in the nose, forehead repeatedly telling me he was going to kill me."
Perrette was on her way to meet the architect helping her design a new space she recently purchased, so she was alone at the time of her attack. She wrote that he kept repeating his name, William, and warned her, "Don't forget that." The actress feared that he would pull her into a nearby empty garage, where she felt she would definitely be "dead."
"I knew I couldn't overcome him," she wrote. "I prayed my heart out and then finally said, 'William is a beautiful name. I have a little nephew named William."
She said that he continued to beat her until he let her go. She quickly called a neighbor and a police friend to whom she was able to give a description of her attacker. Fortunately the police were able to track him down and arrested him for felony assault.
Despite this scary encounter, Perrette, a well-known civil rights advocate, called for change in the community. The actress used her experience to shed light on the lack of treatment for those with mental health issues and minimal housing for the homeless.
"My life changed tonight. My...I don't know," she wrote. "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," she ended the post.
Thankfully Perrette is OK now, but we're keeping her in our thoughts.
(Originally published Nov. 13 at 6:42 a.m. PT.)
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