Garret Doty walks outside the Hall of Justice on May 23, 2023. Doty is accused of assaulting Don Carmignani in San Francisco on April 5, 2023. | Source: Michael Barba/The Standard
A homeless man charged on suspicion of beating former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani with a metal rod has been jailed for a second time for an alleged offense relating to a court order as his trial continues.
Alleged attacker Garret Doty was arrested on suspicion of violating the terms of his stay-away order, which demands he not visit the Marina neighborhood, where the alleged beating of Carmignani happened, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
In June, Doty was arrested on suspicion of violating the court order but was later released from jail, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department said. Doty was arrested again on Thursday, police said.
Carmignani was assaulted outside his mother's Marina District home and hospitalized with serious injuries in an April 5 attack that attracted national attention. Police later arrested 24-year-old Doty, a homeless man who faces assault and battery charges.
Don Carmignani, left, and his attorney John Cox, center, leave the courtroom at the Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant St. in San Francisco on May 23, 2023. | Source: Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard
The beating stoked fears about public safety in San Francisco, but the narrative around it was later complicated by allegations that Carmignani instigated the attack with a 10-inch canister of bear spray.
Defense attorney Kleigh Hathaway said Carmignani also matched the description of a suspect who used bear spray in other attacks on homeless people in the area. However, The Standard reviewed police reports and other records and found that the suspect descriptions from the eight earlier attacks range from a white man in his 50s with a goatee riding a bicycle to a white or Hispanic male in his 30s.
Carmignani claims that he was not the person involved in the pepper-spraying incidents.
Doty was first released from jail when Carmignani didn't go to court as he said he was too unwell to testify.
Judge Linda Colfax handed Doty the stay-away order. Colfax also placed him on electric monitoring and ordered him to get treatment for anger management and substance abuse issues.
Doty's next hearing date is scheduled for Aug. 22, according to the DA's Office.
The Public Defender's Office, which is representing Doty, did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.
Doty remains in jail on Monday, according to the sheriff's inmate locator.
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