By Todd Leopold
CNN
(CNN) -- "NCIS" actress Pauley Perrette was attacked in front of her Hollywood home Thursday night and left "shaken and traumatized," she tweeted.
"On my street, I was jumped by a VERY psychotic homeless man," she wrote.
The man grabbed Perrette, pinned her arm, punched her in the nose and forehead and "repeatedly" told her that he was going to kill her.
"I was alone, terrified and trapped," Perrette wrote. "There was an empty garage behind me and I knew if he got me in there I was dead."
Perrette said she prayed and tried to connect with the man. The man finally told her to "get the f*** out of here. And I did," Perrette wrote, adding that she collapsed on the sidewalk in shock.
She texted two friends and provided a sketch of the man, who was headed toward Hollywood Boulevard.
Officer Ricardo Hernandez of the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed Perrette's story, noting that a call came in about 5:15 p.m. Shortly thereafter, the LAPD arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of felony battery. He is in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
KTLA states 45-year-old David Merck is the suspect, click here for more details from KTLA.
CNN is seeking comment from the suspect's attorney.
Perrette, who plays forensic scientist Abby Sciuto on CBS' longtime hit "NCIS," has been active in a variety of civil and human rights causes. In her tweet, she urged better mental health care, care for the homeless and support for police.
"We need to not walk alone," she wrote.
But, she added, she needs time to recover from the incident.
"I need to heal," she wrote. "I almost died tonight."
CNN's Stella Chan contributed to this story.
