‘No one is safe’: San Francisco on edge after wave of high-profile violent attacks

Residents of this city say “no one is safe” after a high-profile resident was brutally attacked with a crowbar near his front door, a day after a tech titan was stabbed to death.

Former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani was attacked with a crowbar in a horror attack. Picture: CBS Bay Area/YouTube

Neighbours 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.

Mr Carmignani was attacked a day after Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant early on Tuesday morning, the NY Post reports.

The 53-year-old was leaving his mother’s home at about 7pm 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.

Don Carmignani was attacked with crowbar. Picture: Allinradiodotcom

Joe Alioto-Veronese, a prominent attorney and friend, said Mr Carmignani was at his mother’s home when he noticed Doty and two other transients blocking the driveway.

When Mr 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 neighbourhood after the attack,” Mr 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 neighbourhood in San Francisco.”

He added, “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.”

Local outlets show the alleged attacker armed with a crowbar. Picture: CBS Bay Area/YouTube

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 October 28 in his Pacific Heights home, which is about a mile away from Mr 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 per cent from 2019 to 2022, homicides in San Francisco rose 36.6 per cent, from 41 to 56 in the city of 815,000, according to police statistics.

Violent crimes also saw an uptick of 7.5 per cent over the past three years throughout San Francisco, while property crime has exploded to 20.7 per cent over the past three years.

Mr Alioto-Veronese said neighbours saw Mr Carmignani getting attacked and were able to pull him into the house and call 911.

“They literally saved his life,” the attorney said.

Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death on Tuesday. Picture: Facebook

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, Mr 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 Mr 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!”

He added, “This is not just about arresting criminals. This is about getting ahead of the mental health crisis. The psych ward of San Francisco General is in the city streets, and it has to stop.”

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as ‘No one is safe’: San Francisco on edge after wave of high-profile violent attacks