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Pauley Perrette ‘Grateful To Be Alive’, NCIS Star Was Viciously Attacked By Homeless Man

By Dee Sharp
Published on: 19:18 PST, Nov 13, 2015

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, NCIS star Pauley Perrette said she was “grateful to be alive” after being viciously attacked by a homeless man late Thursday night. The grateful star also said she was concerned for the homeless man who beat her. The star also took to Twitter to say that she was grateful to be alive, and described the attack in detail, saying she was hesitant about posting the message.

“So, tonight was awful, life changing and I’m only grateful to be alive.”

Pauley Perrette Grateful To Be Alive After Attack
(Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images)

The NCIS star, who plays Abby Scuito, said she was walking across the street from her home to a new guest home she had bought to meet her architect when the homeless man attacked her.

“He grabbed me forcefully, pinned my arm, punched me in the nose, forehead, repeatedly telling me he was going to kill me. Then he showed me how he was going to kill me.”

Perrette really thought she was going to die that night. She said the man kept yelling that his name was “William,” so after praying earnestly, Perrette said she tried to calm him down.

“William is a beautiful name. I have a nephew named William.”

“That’s all I said, all I did, other than praying my heart out,” Pauley said. “He started to punch me again, and then said, ‘Get the f**k out of here.” And the grateful Perrette did just that, where she collapsed a short distance from the scene of the attack.

While she was lying on the sidewalk, Perrette said a man walked by with his dog and the dog licked her face, but the man did nothing. After the man walked away, Perrette texted her friend who was a policeman and told him what happened. Paulette also drew a sketch of her attacker which led to the arrest of David Merck, a homeless man that the Hollywood police had dealt with before. The man who walked away was later interviewed and revealed that he thought she was a homeless person and didn’t try to help her, adding that he regretted not helping her.

Pauley’s sketch led police to this man.

Pauley told ET that the homeless man broke her heart.

“I hate that people are that mentally ill in this country or anywhere…and with no help.”

The ET reporter reminded her that this homeless man had attacked her and she had compassion for him, and more concern for him, to which a visibly shaken Pauley replied, “Part of it is just to be really super grateful to be alive, but the other part is that my heart breaks for that guy.”

She also said her heart breaks for every homeless person on the street who had mental illness. Perrette then commended the Hollywood police department and said that what she went through is something they deal with every single day.

Perrette is truly lucky to be alive, but the homeless man is one of thousands of people on the streets who are untreated and undiagnosed for mental illnesses. Perrette is an advocate for the homeless and from what she told ET, it has not changed her view of the homeless, but rather strengthened her views on the homeless situation. Perrette is definitely grateful to be alive and she said that this incident changed her life.

Perrette is grateful to be alive, but should she be so forgiving of the homeless man? What needs to be done to address the homeless problem, especially for those with mental illnesses? Do you think more should be done or is it something that will never be fixed? Would you have walked by Perrette and dismissed her as a homeless person? Feel free to voice your opinions below.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison / Getty Images]

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