Ex-San Francisco fireplace commissioner attacked homeless folks with bear spray, attorneys say

SAN FRANCISCO (CRON) — Don Carmignani, a former San Francisco fire department commissioner, attacked homeless people in the city’s Marina neighborhood with bear spray, according to lawyers speaking in court on Wednesday.

Defense attorneys were speaking on behalf of a 24-year-old unprotected man, Garret Allen Doty, who is being held in prison without bail. Doty is accused of attacking Carmignani and hitting him with a metal pipe. The April 5 pipe banging was captured on surveillance video footage obtained by KRON from Nexstar.

However, new surveillance footage recently emerged that appears to show that 53-year-old Carmignani provoked the incident when he allegedly attacked Doty with bear spray, Doty’s defense attorneys said.

Doty’s defense team said a man matching Carmignani’s description is suspected of targeting homeless people in at least eight separate incidents since November 2021, including some incidents involving the use of bear spray as a weapon. According to the defense, some of the victims were attacked while they were sleeping or in tents. Before the April attack, another unprotected person was attacked just a block from Carmignani’s home in January.

Unprotected people set up camp in front of the house of the mother of a former fire commissioner in the Marina district. (Photo courtesy of Samuel Ray of Colla & Ray LLC)

Doty was initially arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault and assault.

Prosecutors turned over Doty’s attorney surveillance video Monday, showing the initial interaction between Doty and Carmignani. The video shows Carmignani walking up to Doty, spraying him with bear spray and walking away.

Carmignani previously told KRON Doty was part of a group of three aggressive, unprotected individuals who refused to move. The former fire commissioner said he called 911 after seeing the trio’s camp. The homeless people stayed outside his mother’s house all day, doing drugs and being “extremely aggressive” towards passers-by, he said.

Carmignani wrote: “Both my mother and I called 911 to report that three homeless people had set up camp at the entrance to their apartment. My family has had previous interactions with these individuals who have repeatedly threatened my family members with violence. As a result, my mother did not feel safe leaving her home. Neither the SFPD nor any of the city’s various homeless services responded to our 911 calls that morning. Throughout the day, my mother and my friend informed me that these individuals were still standing outside their home, openly using drugs and being extremely aggressive towards passers-by.”

Carmignani said when he asked people to leave later that day, Doty took out the whistle and attacked him “countless” times. The pipe attack can be seen in the video above.

Carmignani was hospitalized with a fractured skull.

Now the former fire commissioner said he feared prosecutors would drop all charges against Doty and instead frame Carmignani as the attacker. So far no charges have been dropped. Doty’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday and Carmignani will be called in to testify about what happened at the marina.

Carmignani’s lawyer sent a statement to KRON on his behalf Monday night. The statement said: “Unfortunately, we have been informed by the District Attorney’s Office that they have decided to drop the charges against Don Carmignani’s attacker, Garret Doty, and release him back onto the city streets with impunity. According to prosecutors, the attack on Don was “self-defense.” Prosecutors have also informed us that Don could be prosecuted for using pepper spray. We truly believe that instead of threatening Mr. Carmignani, they should focus on pursuing the individual who terrorized the Marina and taking Don to the hospital after brutally beating him with a metal rod.”

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office still considers Carmignani a “victim” and charges are still pending against Doty.

Jenkins said Carmignani was supposed to appear in court on Wednesday, but he did not appear. If he again fails to appear for Thursday’s preliminary hearing, the court will have to release Doty from jail, she said.

Last year, a San Francisco art gallery owner was criminally charged after hose-spraying an unprotected woman because she refused to leave his gallery in posh Jackson Square. Collier Gwin was caught on a witness’ phone camera spraying the woman and yelling, “Move! Move! Move!”

Officials in the city of San Francisco cannot legally compel unprotected men and women to move away from public places, such as sidewalks. That’s because a judge ruled in favor of a lawsuit brought by homeless advocates.

Judge Donna Ryu’s decision was issued Dec. 23 in response to a lawsuit, Coalition on Homelessness v. City and County of San Francisco filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Ryu’s order prohibits San Francisco from enforcing the “sit, lie, and sleep laws” against “involuntarily homeless individuals” as long as the number of homeless people exceeds the number of available emergency shelters.

Shortly after he was attacked, Carmignani told KRON that Doty and Doty’s friends are “known criminals with a well-documented history of drug use, resident harassment and vandalism at the marina. One of my attackers was seen near the crime scene, carrying my hat as a trophy, which fell off my head. This is unacceptable.”

Carmignani said he’s a lifelong resident of the Marina District and he believes the city needs to protect the safety of its residents from violent drug users.

He wrote: “I strongly believe that the city must promote the safety of its law-abiding citizens from those who have chosen to do drugs and commit acts of violence on our streets. I am confident that this unfortunate incident will lead to policy changes to better protect the interests of San Francisco residents.”