SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco private investigator Jack Palladino, 76, died Monday, February 1 from a head injury caused by an attempted robbery. On Thursday, January 28 Palladino stepped out of his house in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood to test out a new camera when a car pulled up and two men jumped out. One man tried to grab the camera, when Palladino fell and hit his head on the pavement.
Authorities were able to identify the suspects from evidence on Palladino’s camera. As he was being robbed, he took pictures of the robbers. Police arrested Lawrence Thomas, 24, and Tyjone Flournoy, 23. Thomas and Flournoy are facing charges including attempted murder, attempted robbery, and other crimes in connection with the incident.
The San Francisco Police Department issued a statement indicating they do not believe the suspects knew Palladino or that he was targeted because he was a private investigator. The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office plans to amend the attempted murder charges to murder after Palladino’s cause of death is formally determined by the Medical Examiner’s office. Palladino was rushed to the hospital and taken into surgery after the incident, but suffered a traumatic brain injury and was placed on life support. After a couple of days on life support Palladino was taken off of life support Sunday and died Monday at 12:08 p.m.
He started his career in the 1970s, and worked on high-profile cases ranging from the Jonestown mass suicides to celebrity and political scandals.
