Jack Palladino, a famous private investigator who worked for radicals, celebrities and former President Bill Clinton, died on Monday in San Francisco after suffering a head injury during an alleged assault attempt, relatives and officials said. He was 76 years old.
The alleged crime occurred on Thursday, just before 5 pm, when Palladino left his home in the Haight-Asbury neighborhood and a man tried to steal his camera, according to local police and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Witnesses told police they saw Palladino fighting a suspect on camera. When the suspect’s car sped off, the investigator fell to the ground, leaving him seriously injured, a grandson, Ash Ivanov, told NBC News.
Lawrence Thomas, 24, and Tyjone Flournoy, 23, were arrested on suspicion of attempted theft, qualified kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and other crimes, police said.
Prison records show that the two men are being held in San Francisco County Prison. Neither has a lawyer yet, said a spokeswoman for the public defender.
After four decades as an investigator, Palladino was due to retire with his wife and colleague after a final case when the alleged crime occurred, the Chronicle reported.
Palladino began his career in the 1970s, after studying at the University of California at Berkeley.
Among Palladino’s prominent clients were the family of the heiress to the newspaper Patty Hearst, after she was kidnapped by leftist militants; Clinton during his first presidential campaign; Black Panther leader Huey Newton; and the bastard movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.