Don Carmignani suffered a serious head injury when a homeless man allegedly bludgeoned him outside his mother’s Marina District home in an April 5 attack that attracted national attention. Authorities later arrested 24-year-old Garret Doty and filed assault and battery charges against him.
But the case against Doty became more complicated Tuesday when a prosecutor told Carmignani’s attorney that the District Attorney’s Office planned to drop the case “based on new evidence.”
While the office quickly backtracked, Doty’s public defender revealed that the “new evidence” appeared to be video footage and police reports from several other incidents in and around the Marina in which a man bear-sprayed homeless people.
The public defender, Kleigh Hathaway, said Carmignani matches the description of the suspect in the eight bear spray attacks from November 2021 through January 2023—all of which occurred near his mother’s house.
“Our client vehemently denies that he is the alleged individual who is committing these acts against homeless people,” Colla said.
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Video from the earliest incident shows a man walking up to a person sleeping on a sidewalk and spraying the victim in the face for about five seconds as the victim tries to cover his face and get up off the ground. The suspect, who is wearing a baseball cap and medical mask, then casually walks away.
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R&I -TP
Orange of Specious