interest, and that wasn t me. reporter: carmignani says he is a victim, attacked after trying to remove homeless people he says were doing drugs outside of his parents home. his attorney releasing this video of his alleged attacker picking up a metal rod, and then practicing his swing. the impact, in the back of my head went through my skull. reporter: carmignani did not show up for a scheduled court appearance thursday, where he was subpoenaed to testify. prosecutors say he s still recovering from extensive injuries and said they are not dropping the case against his alleged attacker. these new videos now making justice in this case curious and complicated. and john, because he did not show up in court, doty by law had to be released. doty s attorney says he is relieved to be released. the prosecutor says they need
of another homeless man. the question now is this also carmignani? i don t know. i have a strong suspicion that they are because of similar descriptions and a similar m.o. i think most importantly, it s the district attorney and the police who chose to include these in the discovery for this case. reporter: hathaway says there are eight separate instances of bear spray assaults on homeless people entered into the case by the district attorney. the victims are either asleep in their tents, sitting on a bench, minding their own business. i m ab an okay guy. and i could have been a dead guy. reporter: carmignani said he denied to authorities that he was the man in the other attacks, including this one from 2021. they show me a person of
with a impeachment rod caught on cam race, clearly was hitting his head. he was bleeding from his head. reporter: the victim, former san francisco fire commissioner don carmignani. the suspect, a homeless man. really? at what point do you fight back? donny could die. reporter: in neighborhood where some locals are fed up with the problem, it seemed like a clear-cut assault case until it arrived in court, and the public defender for the suspect, garrett doty released this video, saying it shows the ex-fire official walking up to doty, pulling out a can of bear spray, and spraying the man as he lay on the ground. that s when the man appears to get up and the pair began to shuffle. a short chase leads up to the beating. unless mr. carmignani is credible and believable, they don t have a prosecution. reporter: doty s public defender says it may not even end there. she also points to this video, entered into evidence by the district attorney she says showing the 2021 bear spraying
The suspect accused of using a metal pipe to attack a former San Francisco fire department official was released from custody Thursday and is to appear in court for a