Crime & Safety

Suspect in La Jolla Home-Invasion Robbery Arrested

David Allen Grub is suspected of robbing a home after a real estate agent showed the house to potential buyers.

Police arrested a suspect in a home-invasion robbery in La Jolla last August who is also suspected in other robberies in the region.  

On Thursday, sheriff’s deputies acted on a tip and arrested David Allen Grub, 43, at a residence in the 1800 block of Alpine, sheriff’s Sgt. Clayton Lisk said.

Grub is suspected in a residential burglary in Pacific Beach in May and an armed residential burglary in Rancho Santa Fe in December, San Diego police Lt. Andra Brown said.

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A female real estate agent was allegedly accosted inside a home on Hillside Drive that she had shown on the evening of Aug. 1, police said. The gun-wielding suspect entered through an unlocked door and demanded jewelry, Brown said.

He allegedly forced her to open drawers in the master bedroom and took jewelry items, along with the agent’s cell phone then ordered her to stay in the room, Brown said.

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As the suspect left the house, the homeowner spotted him carrying his wife’s fur coats and confronted him in the home’s driveway, according to Brown.

The alleged crook dropped the furs and fired two shots near the man’s feet, which caused concrete shrapnel to hit him in the face, Brown said. The suspect then drove off.

Grub is also suspected of confronting a maid at a large house in the 5400 block of El Mirlo in Rancho Santa Fe on Dec. 20, and with the help of an accomplice, allegedly taking jewelry and antiques, Lisk said.

The bandits then handcuffed the housekeeper to a door and drove away, Lisk said. Her children found her several hours later and she was not hurt, according to the sergeant.

The second suspect remained at large, and the investigation was ongoing, Lisk said.

According to Brown, just before 10 a.m. on May 24, a resident at 1600 Loring St. returned home and saw a man walking from the back yard carrying a dresser drawer, which he put into the trunk of a car before driving away. The resident went inside and found a large amount of jewelry missing, Brown said.

Sheriff’s detectives obtained information that connected Grub to the latest robbery and served an arrest warrant Thursday, Brown said. SDPD robbery detectives served a related search warrant on the Alpine residence and at another location in Lakeside.

Grub was arrested without incident on Thursday, and was arraigned Friday on multiple counts related to the incidents, Brown said.

Grub was being held in San Diego Central Jail in lieu of $695,000 bail, according to online jail records.

-City News Service


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