Special Reports

Exclusive: Former SF Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani talks for first time about Marina District assault

By Betty Yu

Updated on: April 26, 2023 / 5:10 AM PDT / CBS San Francisco

Interview: Former SF Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani says charges may be dropped in brutal attack

SAN FRANCISCO – Prosecutors have alerted former San Francisco Fire Commissioner Don Carmignani they will be moving to dismiss charges in a brutal beating he suffered outside his mother's home in the city's Marina District earlier this month, according to his attorney.

The 52-year-old Carmigiani was beaten with a metal rod and suffered severe head injuries, including a fractured skull. Hours earlier he and his mother called 911 to report three homeless people set up an encampment at her home, saying they made threats of violence to his family.

"I didn't go out there to fight anyone. I'm trying to get them down the road, go to the park," said Carmignani. "It's three-on-one. I know odds. I'm 52 years old. I have two hip replacements. I'm an old guy, I could have been a dead guy."

Betty Yu

Betty Yu joined KPIX 5 in November 2013 as a general assignment reporter. She spent two years at WTVJ, the NBC-owned station in Miami, as a reporter before moving to San Francisco.

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