Jack Palladino, a high-profile detective whose clients included Patricia Hearst, Bill Clinton, John DeLorean, Robin Williams, Courtney Love and Black Panthers leader Huey Newton, died Monday, the result of an attack outside his San Francisco home Thursday. He was 76.
Update 9:28 a.m. Feb. 2: Palladino never regained consciousness and was taken off life support Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. He died shortly after noon Monday, according to his attorney, Mel Honowitz, of San Francisco. The cause of death was traumatic brain injury, Sutherland told the newspaper.
Palladino had just stepped outside of his home in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco at about 5 p.m. Thursday when a gold Acura pulled up and a man attempted to steal the detective’s expensive camera, police and the detective’s stepson, Nick Chapman, told the Chronicle. Palladino is an avid photographer.
The man reached out from the car to steal his camera. Palladino held on, according to witnesses, and was dragged by the car. During the struggle he fell and hit his head on the pavement, the Chronicle reported.
Palladino’s camera held images that led to the arrest of two suspects.
“He investigated his own murder,” said Mel Honowitz. “Those of us who knew Jack are mourning his death but chuckling that it is a fitting way for him to go.” https://t.co/R407gRoQSo
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) February 2, 2021
Original report: An arrest was made Saturday in the attempted robbery of Jack Palladino, an attack that left the famed San Francisco detective gravely injured and on life support.
Police arrested one suspect and are searching for at least one other person in connection with the Thursday attack on Palladino, 76, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing an anonymous source “familiar with the investigation.”Palladino remained unconscious and on life support Saturday with a massive head injury in an area hospital, the newspaper reported.
San Francisco police officials did not confirm the arrest or identify suspects in or out of custody.
BREAKING: Police have arrested a suspect and are searching for at least one other in connection to the robbery and life-threatening attack on renowned San Francisco private eye Jack Palladino, a source tells The Chronicle. https://t.co/4s9Pyyhul9
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) January 30, 2021
Palladino’s high-profile clients have included Patricia Hearst, Bill Clinton, John DeLorean, Robin Williams, Courtney Love and Black Panthers leader Huey Newton.
Palladino had just stepped outside of his home in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco at about 5 p.m. Thursday when a car pulled up and a man attempted to steal the detective’s expensive camera, police and the detective’s stepson, Nick Chapman, told the Chronicle. Palladino is an avid photographer.
“Somebody in the passenger seat tried to grab it and split,” Chapman said. “He was dragged. He fell and hit his head.”
“As the suspect pulled on the camera, the victim fell to the pavement,” police spokesperson Robert Rueca told reporters.
Palladino grew up in Boston and attended the University of California at Berkeley, the Chronicle reported. He met his wife, fellow detective Sandra Sutherland, while the two were investigating brutality and abuse in a Long Island jail. The couple opened their San Francisco agency in 1977, specializing in fraud, medical malpractice and homicide investigations, the newspaper reported.
In 1978, Palladino represented Larry Layton, who survived the 1978 mass suicide of more than 900 members of the People’s Temple.
According to The Associated Press, Palladino spent seven years interviewing surviving members of the religious cult and their families.
Although Palladino is a skilled marksman, he does not carry a gun, the Chronicle reported. He once told a reporter that he does not carry a weapon because “they make investigators lazy.”
Cox Media Group
