Former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani’s neighbors said “no one is safe” in the city after he was brutally attacked with a metal crowbar just steps away from his family’s front door by a transient.
Carmignani was attacked just one day after Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death early Tuesday morning by an unknown assailant.
Carmignani, 53, was leaving his mother’s house in the Marina District around 7 p.m. when he was approached by a man wielding an industrial metal crowbar, according to friends of the ex-commissioner.
Garret Doty, 24, was later arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Carmignani was at his mother’s house when he noticed Doty and two other transients blocking the driveway, according to Joe Alioto-Veronese, a prominent attorney and friend.
When Carmignani asked them to move, Doty bludgeoned him in the back of the head, injuring the former smoker’s skull and brain.
“After the attack, [Doty] was seen swinging the pipe and walking around the neighborhood,” Alioto-Veronese said. “It’s dangerous here, and the fact that this could happen to a big guy like Don Carmignani tells us that it could happen to anyone in any San Francisco neighborhood.”
“The fact that even Paul Pelosi could be attacked in this manner in front of police officers inside his own home demonstrates that no one is safe in this city,” he continued.
Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer by a crazed David DePape on Oct. 28 in his Pacific Heights home, which is about a mile away from Carmignani’s block.
The rise in violent crime in San Francisco has sparked outrage among residents, who are fed up with “living in fear.”
According to police statistics, homicides in San Francisco increased 36.6% between 2019 and 2022, from 41 to 56 in the city of 815,000.
Violent crimes increased by 7.5% in San Francisco over the last three years, while property crime increased by 20.7%.
Neighbors saw Carmignani being attacked and were able to pull him into the house and call 911, according to Alioto-Veronese.
“They literally saved his life,” said the lawyer.
The former fire commissioner had surgery on Thursday and was still in the intensive care unit as of Friday afternoon. Alioto-Veronese predicted that he would require additional surgeries in the future.
According to the attorney, a lack of police patrolling the streets and the city’s soft-on-crime policies have resulted in lawlessness and drug use throughout San Francisco.
According to Lt. Tracy McCray, vice president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, the department is down more than 500 officers.
“The city is in absolute chaos because we will continue to spiral in this doom loop,” Alioto-Veronese, a district attorney candidate, said. “These tech titans, such as Bob Lee, are relocating their employees from San Francisco.” Even [Lee] left the city, and he was murdered while there!
“It’s not just about apprehending criminals. This is about anticipating the mental health crisis. The San Francisco General psychiatric ward is in the city streets, and it must be stopped.”