Two men charged with the attack on a homeless man in Arroyo Grande earlier this year are being released from jail early, but not as early as they would have been if the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney and Sheriff had not been alerted and stepped in.
The incident happened on March 20, 2026. The victim, Douglas Mark, spoke exclusively with KSBY News after the two men were sentenced.
WATCH: "I could have easily been dead," says assault victim
Mark was homeless and was sleeping in a park gazebo when Boaz Brigham, 21, and Malachy Hayes, 18, approached him. According to the district attorney, the two violently and without provocation attacked him.
“So all of a sudden, the sprinklers come on, and it’s happened before, but it wasn’t the sprinklers. So I threw the blanket off me, and I’m getting up, and I see legs, and immediately I go, those ain’t sprinklers," Mark said about the attack when he realized.
The District Attorney's Office said Mark suffered brain damage as a result of the attack.
"For all purposes, I could have easily been dead," Mark said.
The attackers created their own trail of evidence, video-recording themselves on a phone, capturing themselves urinating on Mark as they laughed, egging each other on, and high-fiving before sharing the video on Snapchat.
Judge Crystal Tindell Seiler, appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2023, cited the defendants' youth and the fact that Brigham pleaded guilty and Hayes pleaded no contest to felony elder abuse and other charges when considering their sentence.
She placed both men on probation for four years and sentenced them to 364 days in jail. The district attorney had argued for the maximum sentence of seven years in prison under California's Three Strikes Law.
Mark reached out to KSBY News this week, concerned a victim's witness advocate notified him the men would be released by the end of this year, several months before they would qualify for early release.
Hayes' projected release listed a date of Nov. 4, with Brigham's date listed as Dec. 10.
While it's common for inmates to serve only a portion of their sentence, when KSBY News reporter Jessica Roe reached out to San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow, he expressed surprise and immediately contacted Sheriff Ian Parkinson.
While both explained that inmates may be offered one-day credits for every day served under California law, the Sheriff's Office has discretion to release earlier under California Penal Code 4024.
Neither was aware this was being applied in the case of either inmate, and assured KSBY News they would be investigating promptly.
"I talked to my people and unless it is prescribed by law that they have to be released, there will be no early release from us," Sheriff Parkinson said.
On Friday, court officials released a statement saying, "The Superior Court of California, County of San Luis Obispo, is committed to serving the community by deciding cases in a fair and just manner, given the facts and the applicable law," adding that the court "is ethically prohibited from commenting" on the case.
Hayes' attorney, Paul M. Phillips, also responded to a request for comment, saying, "The jail only releases those who have met the terms of their sentences."
A restitution status determination hearing in the case is set for November 9, according to Phillips.
Mark is now off the streets, thanks to the generosity of a friend, and says he is grateful to the hundreds of people who have donated to his GoFundMe, which at the time of this publication was nearing $10,000. The link can be found here: https://gofund.me/80b068237
If you live in San Luis Obispo and have a story idea you would like to send to KSBY Reporter Jessica Roe, you can reach her directly via email at jessica.roe@ksby.com.
