7 Thieves Still Sought in Jewelry Store Holdups

In the aftermath of two daring Mother’s Day robberies in downtown La Jolla, a customer who was gunned down in a jewelry store remained in critical condition Monday.

Police were still searching for seven bandits in what they described as the “commando-style” robberies Sunday at two jewelry stores on crowded Prospect Street.

A gunman shot San Diego resident Brian Patrick Sullivan, 34, as he was shopping for a Mother’s Day gift for his wife. Sullivan was on life support systems Monday night at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla.

The afternoon robberies at C. J. Charles Ltd. and J. Jessop & Sons Jewelers occurred almost simultaneously and within a block of each other, Lt. Paul Ybarrondo of the San Diego Police Department said.

“It was obviously a coordinated effort,” Ybarrondo said. “They were all dressed identically in black ninja-type clothing.”

The robbers burst into the stores about 2 p.m., yelling at customers and employees to get down, police said. At Jessop, a gunman shot Sullivan in the head without provocation, police said.

“He merely turned toward them and was immediately shot,” Ybarrondo said.

The robbers smashed glass display cases, scooped up jewelry and then fled to a waiting car as bystanders and tourists screamed and took cover, according to police and witnesses.

A police dragnet failed to apprehend the robbers, who reportedly escaped in a stolen 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass that was later recovered in Pacific Beach.

Ybarrondo said similar robberies have occurred recently. The Sunday double robbery resembles crimes that took place a couple of years ago.