Two men have been arrested in connection with the robbery attempt that forced famed San Francisco private investigator Jack Palladino to fight for his life – and Palladino himself helped bring about the breakthrough in the case, police and family said.
Authorities on Sunday identified the suspects in the Jan. 28 attack as 24-year-old Lawrence Thomas from Pittsburg and Tyjone Flournoy, 23, from San Francisco.
They were both arrested on charges of attempted robbery, aggravated kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, false incarceration, and elder abuse, as well as reinforcements for allegedly causing serious bodily harm to Palladino, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Police made the arrests in the case after photos were recovered from Palladino’s camera that the suspects tried to steal.
Palladino, who worked on high profile cases including the Jonestown mass suicides against celebrities and political scandals involving clients such as former President Bill Clinton and Harvey Weinstein, had grabbed his camera and stepped outside the house he shares with his wife to go flat. for the violence.
“He went out to take pictures of people doing mischief in the neighborhood,” Palladino’s wife and fellow detective Sandra Sutherland told the newspaper.
While Palladino was taking photos outside, the suspects pulled into a car and someone tried to steal his camera, his family said.
‘They shot him [with the car] and tried to get hold of the camera, but couldn’t, “Sutherland said, adding,” Because Jack wouldn’t let go. “
Palladino was dragged and dropped his head on the sidewalk before falling unconscious, Nick Chapman told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The private detective was hospitalized and underwent surgery after a head injury. Palladino, who remained unconscious, was taken off life support and was breathing on his own, but was not expected to survive, Sutherland said.
Sutherland said she did not know what her husband’s photos show, but police “found that evidence very helpful in arresting these two people.”
Although Palladino remained unconscious, she brought him the good news.
“I said, ‘Guess what, Jack, they got the bastards, and it was all your job,'” Sutherland told the news outlet.
“Jack’s hard to control,” she said. “But I really think this is it.”
Prior to the attack, Palladino was closing one last case before retiring from his wife, Chapman said.
Since the 1980s, Palladino and his wife have been conducting research from their Victorian home in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of the city.
Their famous clients include Don Johnson, Kevin Costner, Robin Williams, Huey Newton and Snoop Dogg.
Palladino was hired by Clinton during his 1992 campaign to discredit women who claimed extramarital affairs with him. Courtney Love once hired Palladino to talk to journalists to find out if she played a role in the death of her husband, rock star Kurt Cobain in 1994.
His career took off before graduating from University of California, Berkeley’s law school, when Patty Hearst’s family hired him to help investigate her 1974 abduction by the Symbionese Liberation Party.
With pole wires