A San Francisco private eye who worked for the Black Panthers, Bill Clinton and other well-known figures is engaged in livelihoods after he was badly injured in a robbery attempt, his family and authorities said Sunday.
Jack Palladino, 76, fell on the sidewalk and suffered a life-threatening head injury after someone jumped out of a car Thursday afternoon and tried to steal his camera, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing police, witnesses and Palladino’s stepson, Nick Chapman.
A grandchild, Ash Ivanov, confirmed on Sunday that the robbery attempt took place in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, where Palladino lives. The Chronicle reported that he is not expected to survive.
San Francisco police said in a statement that two suspects, Lawrence Thomas, 24, and Tyjone Flournoy, 23, were arrested on charges of attempted theft, aggravated kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, and other crimes.
It was not immediately clear whether they have lawyers.
The Associated Press reported that Palladino’s career began in the 1970s after he graduated from the University of California Berkeley and was hired by the family of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst to investigate her abduction by militant leftists.
He later worked for Black Panther leader Huey Newton, Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign and Courtney Love, the AP reported. The Chronicle reported that Harvey Weinstein had also hired Palladino to quell allegations of sexual misconduct.