Garrett Doty: Ex-fire commissioner Don Carmignani's attacker cleared of charges, citing self-defense
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: The San Francisco district attorney has dropped charges against a homeless man accused of assaulting a former fire commissioner. Don Carmignani, 53, required 51 stitches and suffered a cracked skull and jaw after being attacked with a crowbar by Garrett Doty, 24.
The incident followed Carmignani's use of pepper spray on Doty outside his mother's house in the Marina District. Carmignani served as fire commissioner in 2012.
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Doty has acted in self-defense prosecutors claim
San Francisco ex-fire commissioner Don Carmignani claimed that his attorney informed him that District Attorney Brooke Jenkins dropped the charges against Garrett Doty, a vagrant who allegedly assaulted Carmignani with a crowbar, stating that Doty acted in self-defense. However, prosecutors accused Carmignani of instigating the assault by using pepper spray on Doty.
Carmignani expressed his disappointment with the situation, stating to CBS News, "It's sad. My city is in chaos. They're driving out all the locals and everyone that pays taxes. Something needs to change, the city is burning, and now you have the national guard coming in." He also criticized the charges brought against him for having pepper spray for defense, stating that his daughter and her friends also carry spray and that he needed it for protection from threatening individuals.
'I didn't go out there to fight anyone...I could have been a dead guy'
During interviews, Carmignani explained that he and his mother had called 911 hours earlier to report that three homeless people had set up an encampment at her home and made threats of violence to his family. "I didn't go out there to fight anyone. I'm trying to get them down the road, go to the park," said Carmignani. "It's three-on-one. I know the odds. I'm 52 years old. I have two hip replacements. I'm an old guy, I could have been a dead guy," he told the station.
Although a video showing the violent assault on Don Carmignani was widely circulated, the charges against his attacker, Garrett Doty, have been dropped. The video shows Carmignani defending himself with his fists as he is repeatedly struck in the head with a crowbar, then being chased away and left injured. Carmignani was hospitalized in the ICU for several days after the attack, according to the Daily Mail.
Doty faced charges of assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with serious bodily injury, and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. However, he was released back to the street after blaming the attack on Carmignani. The assault occurred just days after CashApp developer Bob Lee was stabbed to death.
Jenkins compared the death of Bob Lee to the attack on Carmignani by homeless man
According to The New York Post, police officers reportedly did not interview Carmignani to obtain his account of the events. The article cites sources and states, "We live in a city where both the Mayor and the DA are elected. Their re-election is very much tied to public perception of crime and safety. They have a vested interest in changing the narrative to make it appear that crime is not random. The city should stop politicizing public safety and instead focus on doing their job of making San Francisco a safe and livable City for everyone." The report also mentions that Jenkins compared the death of Bob Lee to the attack on Carmignani by the homeless man before her colleague, Nima Momeni, was arrested a week later.