(NewsNation) — A former San Francisco fire commissioner was attacked with a metal pipe in San Francisco’s Marina district Wednesday evening, San Francisco police said.

Don Carmignani, the former commissioner, is suffering serious injuries but is expected to survive, his father told NewsNation affiliate KRON.

Joe Alito Veronese, a lawyer and former district attorney candidate, said at around 7 p.m. Wednesday near Laguna Street and Chestnut Street, “a friend and former San Francisco Commissioner was brutally beaten by a group of homeless people in front of his home. He is at SF general fighting for his life.”

KRON reports that Carmignani underwent surgery to remove a piece of his skull and has 50 stitches in his face along with a broken jaw.

A friend of Carmignani’s, Larry Buck, told KRON that Carmignani’s parents live on Magnolia Street and that he was there because a homeless man was acting reckless outside of their door.

“His mom was terrified to leave her house. Don came down to assist and he was attacked and beaten within an inch of his life,” Buck said.

Police arrested the suspect identified as Garret Doty, 24, and booked him into the San Francisco County Jail. He is charged with assault with a deadly weapon and battery causing serious bodily injury.

The attack on Carmignani happened one day after Cash App founder Bob Lee was fatally stabbed outside of a luxury apartment building near the Bay Bridge.

KRON contributed to this report.