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Who is Tyjone Flournoy? Jack Palladino's attacker was arrested for murdering SF mother-of-two but wasn't charged

 Lawrence Thomas and 23-year-old Tyjone Flournoy were arrested on January 31. Palladino himself may have inadvertently helped the police make the arrests
UPDATED FEB 1, 2021
Jack Palladino had suffered a head injury in a violent bullet attack on January 28, 2021 (Getty Images)
Jack Palladino had suffered a head injury in a violent bullet attack on January 28, 2021 (Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Two men have been arrested in connection with an attempted robbery that left famed San Francisco private investigator Jack Palladino on life support, police said Sunday, January 31. Palladino, who has worked on high-profile cases like the Jonestown mass suicides to celebrity and political scandals, suffered a head injury in a violent bullet attack on January 28, 2021. 

Lawrence Thomas, 24, of Pittsburg and 23-year-old Tyjone Flournoy were arrested on January 31. Palladino himself may have inadvertently helped the police make the arrests after photographs were recovered from a camera the suspects unsuccessfully tried to steal, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Palladino is famous for taking on a host of high-profile cases. He was hired by Bill Clinton in 1992 to handle rumors of his extramarital affairs and by Harvey Weinstein in 2017 to stop his victims from speaking out.  In 1994, he was hired by Courtney Love to talk to journalists on whether she played a role in her husband Kurt Cobain's death. R Kelly was also acquitted on charges of videotaping himself having sex with an underage teenage girl in 2002 after Palladino's testimony at trial in which he challenged the main prosecution witness.

The news of the arrest comes as a huge relief to his wife and fellow private detective Sandra Sutherland. “I said, ‘Guess what Jack, they got the bastards, and it was all your doing,’” Sutherland said. Palladino had just stepped outside his San Francisco home to try out his new camera when a car pulled up and a man jumped out to grab it from him, the detective’s stepson Nick Chapman said. As the attacker grabbed the camera, Palladino fell and hit his head on the pavement. Palladino was not expected to survive after undergoing surgery to stop the massive bleeding, the Chronicle said.

Sutherland said her husband has been pulled off life support and he's not expected to survive more than a few days. Thomas and Flournoy have both been booked into County Jail on suspicion of various charges including assault, attempted robbery and kidnapping in connection with the attack, jail records show. 

Who is Tyjone Flournoy?

Tyjone Flournoy is a 23-year-old San Francisco resident. He has many previous charges on him, including the one for which he was arrested last year. In November 2020, Flournoy was arrested but not charged in connection with the fatal shooting of 33-year-old Ronisha Cook in the Tenderloin. Cook was found with gunshot wounds in a vehicle in December 2019 and surrendered to the police in Nov 2020. 

Cook was in a vehicle when a shooter started firing from another car near Leavenworth and Eddy streets in the Tenderloin shortly before midnight on December 19, 2019, authorities said. County Jail records show he was booked on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, participation in a criminal street gang and conspiracy charges, but he appears to have been released later. A District Attorney’s Office spokesperson confirmed he has not been charged pending further investigation. 

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