Neighbors of former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani said “no one is safe” in the city after he was brutally attacked by a transient with a metal crowbar just steps away from his family’s front door.
Carmignani was attacked a day after Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant early Tuesday morning.
Carmignani, 53, was leaving his mother’s home at about 7 p.m. in the Marina District when he was accosted by a man waving an industrial metal crowbar, friends of the ex-commissioner told The Post.
San Francisco Police later arrested Garret Doty, 24, who was booked on assault with a deadly weapon.
Joe Alioto-Veronese, a prominent attorney and friend, said Carmignani was at his mother’s home when he noticed Doty and two other transients blocking the driveway.
When Carmignani asked them to move, he was bludgeoned in the back of the head by Doty, which injured the former smoke-eater’s skull and brain.
“[Doty] was actually seen swinging the pipe and walking around the neighborhood after the attack,” Alioto-Veronese said. “It’s dangerous here and the fact that this could happen to a big guy like Don Carmignani, that tells us it could happen to anybody in any neighborhood in San Francisco.”
“The fact that even Paul Pelosi could be attacked in a similar fashion in front of police officers inside his own home shows you that no one is safe in this city,” he added.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, suffered similar skull injuries after he 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 uptick in violent crime in San Francisco has caused an uproar among San Francisco residents who are fed up because they are “living in fear.”
While overall violent crime fell 13.6% from 2019 to 2022, homicides in San Francisco rose 36.6%, from 41 to 56 in the city of 815,000, according to police statistics.
Violent crimes also saw an uptick of 7.5% over the past three years throughout San Francisco, while property crime has exploded to 20.7% over the past three years.
Alioto-Veronese said neighbors saw Carmignani getting attacked and were able to pull him into the house and call 911.
“They literally saved his life,” the attorney said.
The former fire commissioner underwent surgery on Thursday and was still in the ICU as of Friday afternoon. He will need more surgeries in the future, Alioto-Veronese said.
The attorney said the lack of police patrolling the streets and the city’s soft-on-crime policies has led to lawlessness and drug use all over San Francisco.
Lt. Tracy McCray, vice president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, told The Post that the department is down more than 500 officers.
“The city is in absolute chaos because we will continue to spiral in this doom loop,” said Alioto-Veronese, who ran for district attorney. “These tech titans like Bob Lee are pulling their employees out of San Francisco. Even [Lee] left the city, and he was murdered while he was visiting!
“This is not just about arresting criminals. This is about getting ahead of the mental health crisis. The psyche ward of San Francisco General is in the city streets, and it has to stop.”