If an 80+ year old man hears a break-in in progress, why does he go downstairs and check it out? Why not call the police or push the panic button?
Why did the police tell them to drop the hammer instead of just grabbing the hammer to prevent it from being used? How do the police not know who Paul Pelosi? The police treated him like he was a Republican.
I have some experience with this stuff—people do not act rationally “in the moment.” They do irrational, emotional, or just stupid things.
Asking why a person didn’t “do this or that” is futile.
When they opened the door, both held the hammer. There does not appear to be a struggle. De-escalation starts with commands. Most of the time that works.
Every cop on the beat is not up to speed with every old person they might come upon. I am sure they knew the address. But knowing which one of those guys was Pelosi is not a given. Lots of cops patrol a city the size of SF.