Victim in brutal attack at Arroyo Grande park questions justice; judge declines comment on sentencing
By Jessica Roe
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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, California (KSBY) — San Luis Obispo County’s District Attorney, the senior citizen who was the victim of a violent assault at an Arroyo Grande park, and the community have expressed disappointment and concern after the two attackers were sentenced to less than a year in jail and probation.
The incident happened on March 20, 2026. The victim, Douglas Mark spoke exclusively with KSBY News, and after hearing his story in his own words, people have donated thousands of dollars to help get Mark back on his feet.
Mark, who was homeless at the time, was sleeping in a gazebo when Boaz Brigham, 21, and Malachy Hayes, 18, approached him. According to the district attorney, the two violently and without provocation attacked him.
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 her decision.
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.
After extensive television viewer and online feedback following KSBY’s original story about the sentencing, the judge has declined to provide comment.
“So all of a sudden, the sprinklers come on, and it’s happened before, but it wasn’t the sprinklers,” Mark explained about the attack. He told KSBY News reporter Jessica Roe it is routine for sprinklers to go on where those who are homeless live. According to organizations such as the National Homelessness Law Center, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations Human Rights Committee, using sprinklers to “sweep” individuals who are homeless is classified as inhumane and cruel. Nonetheless, Mark had become accustomed to this type of practice, and when the assault began, he believed sprinklers were turned on, until he quickly realized he was under attack.
“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, realizing one of the attackers was urinating on his face.
Despite permanent brain damage the District Attorney’s Office said Mark now suffers from, including headaches every single day, according to the victim, he remembers the moment of the attack in detail.
“I lunged for his legs to tackle him, and he stepped back and grabbed my hair, and he’s just upper cutting me with windmills going, ‘You think you’re bad?!!’ and the irony and the hypocrisy of it, at the moment, I was going, this guy is gone. He’s lost… I was just getting up on my hands and knees, and he runs back, and you know what, he gives me one more [kick], and I just went out,” Mark said.
He said he knew a video of the attack existed but had never seen it until sentencing day in court. Mark had been advised by an investigator on the case not to watch the footage.
“I go, ‘Well, when can I see the video?’ He said, “You might not want to see it, Doug, it’s hard to watch.'”
The video is so violent that KSBY chose only to show the beginning, when Brigham and Hayes approach Mark, and the end, when they walk away.
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.
KSBY News reporter Jessica Roe reached out to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, seeking comment from the two men now in county jail. A spokesperson said both men declined.
“For all purposes, I could have easily been dead,” Mark said.
District Attorney Dan Dow disagreed with the sentence, saying in a statement, “This elderly man was homeless, asleep, and completely defenseless when he was humiliated and brutally beaten, leaving him with a permanent brain injury. He was especially vulnerable, and he is entitled to protection and dignity as a human being.”
While the judge immediately sent the attackers to county jail to begin serving their sentences, a restitution status hearing is scheduled for September. At that hearing, Mark can return to court and request monetary damages, which would force his attackers to pay for anything from medical bills to lost potential wages, and more.
“When are we going to make a law that makes common sense?” Mark asked.
Despite his disappointment in the sentencing, Mark said he has nothing but praise for the efforts of the Arroyo Grande Police Department and the district attorney’s office, which he said advocated for him in pursuit of justice.
“I’m still humbled and so grateful,” he said.
Mark is equally appreciative of a former acquaintance, now a close friend, who has provided him with housing on his property while Mark gets back on his feet after living on the streets. He has also set up a GoFundMe for Mark, which can be found at the following link: gofund.me/80b068237
“I could talk about getting kicked in the head… but the kindness shown me, it breaks me up,” Mark said.
That type of compassionate response has inspired Mark to share a message with anyone who will listen.
“I just say, be kind to anyone less fortunate than you,” Mark said.
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