Bail bondsman identified as victim after deadly fight by downtown jail, Sacramento police say
The man killed Monday after an altercation erupted outside the Sacramento County Main Jail downtown was a longtime bail bondsman, a company spokesman said Tuesday, as police announced an arrest in the victim’s death.
Officers were called after 4 a.m. Monday to the 500 block of I Street, in front of bail bond offices directly across from the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse. Two men began fighting and each suffered injuries, according to archived radio dispatches reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.
Kevin Brace, 56, died from his injuries at the scene while working at Greg Padilla Bail Bonds. Topo Padilla, who co-owns Greg Padilla Bail Bonds with his father, said in a phone interview that Brace worked the graveyard shift for 34 years in downtown Sacramento, the majority of them spent working in that same office.
Brace worked for Sacramento’s most prominent bail bondsman, which included stints at Ace Bail Bonds and for Leonard Padilla. He obtained his bail agent license in 1990, according to state records.
Investigators detained a “person of interest” in connection with the fight on Monday. Jacob Levi Mandell, 38, was booked Tuesday into the jail and faces a murder charge, jail records show.
It was unclear why the two were fighting or if they were acquaintances. Police declined to offer a motive for the assault.
Mandell, who is being held without bail, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
Topo Padilla is expected to address Mandell’s case after the hearing in downtown Sacramento, just yards away from where Brace took his last breath.
This story was originally published June 4, 2024 at 6:06 PM.
