NCIS Star Pauley Perrette's Homeless Attacker Has Been Charged

David Merck was charged with two felony counts, and if found guilty, would be sentenced to a maximum of four years in state prison

Pauley Perrette's accused attacker has been charged.

E! News has obtained the criminal complaint against David Merck, the homeless man who was allegedly involved in an incident with the NCIS star last week. The Los Angeles district attorney charged Merck with one count of criminal threat and one count false imprisonment by violence, both felonies.
 
Additionally, the D.A. says that if Merck is found guilty on both counts, he would be sentenced to a maximum of four years in state prison.

Police arrested the 45-year-old man on felony assault last week, and resides in jail with a bail amount of $60,000. Perrette 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."

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.

Instead of just writing about the attack in hopes of catching Merck, Perrette also 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.

—Reporting by Baker Machado