Suspect Imprisoned 6 Years Ago for Lighting Homeless Man on Fire
Screen capture of Anthony Padgett from abc10News.
The suspect in the serial attacks on homeless men was arrested Thursday, July 7th, and the Ocean Beach victim of one of his fatal attacks has been identified.
Anthony Alexander Padgett, 36, was arrested by San Diego Police in Chula Vista about 10 a.m. Thursday. The arrest occurred near H Street and Broadway. He was booked on 5 felony counts altogether, two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson.
San Diego homicide Capt. David Nisleit told the media :
“At this time, we have probable cause to arrest Mr. Padgett for these heinous crimes.”
Shawn Longley
Padgett’s arrest happened 4 days since the first of the 4 seemingly random attacks on sleeping homeless men on July 3rd. Two of the victims died, another is in serious condition, and the fourth is fighting for his life in a hospital.
It also turns out that Padgett was convicted and imprisoned 6 years ago for setting fire to a homeless acquaintance while he was sleeping. This is very similar to two of the more recent attacks that he is charged with.
Padgett was arrested in January 2010 on attempted murder and mayhem charges after setting the victim on fire and who suffered second- and third-degree burns to at least 30 percent of his body. News reports that he was sentenced to 4 years in prison on the mayhem charge.
Houseless Victim From OB Identified
The victim from OB who was fatally attacked by the suspect Padgett is Shawn Longley, 41, a homeless man who lived for a while at least in the Robb Field area.
NBC7 spoke to his mother, Linda Gramlick, a resident of Florida. She told the station that she and her son had been estranged, but they saw each other every now and then. She said:
“He was a very good person. Just because he was homeless doesn’t mean he deserves to die.
He had his ups and downs. He wasn’t an angel…but he certainly never deserved to die like an animal.”
Gramlick said that Longley was born in San Diego, had always been a loner, had problems keeping a job, and had lived from town to town but settled down with a woman in North Carolina where they had 2 girls. They eventually separated, and Gramlick described how Longley was devastated by the loss of his daughters who were adopted. She also said the death of his father when Longley was only 15 could have contributed to his homelessness. He wanted to move back to San Diego where he was born, because he liked the weather and the people, she said.
“I hope they catch this monster,” she said. “I never thought I would never speak to him again,” she said. “Thanks to this monster I will never speak to him again.”
She knows now that the monster – at least the suspected monster – is behind bars.
Other sources: Times of San Diego
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Thank you for taking the time to share this. It’s important to humanize the homeless, especially with the vitriol these days against “trolls” and “travelers” in OB.
I wonder why the original crime was considered “mayhem” and not attempted murder…maybe part of a plea deal to avoid a costly trial?