Two Arrested in Deadly Holdup at La Jolla Store

San Diego Police said Wednesday they believe eight people were involved in two simultaneous jewelry store robberies in La Jolla last May that resulted in the shooting death of a store customer.

Two of the alleged robbers have been arrested and six others are being sought, police said.

In addition, police are asking the unidentified male caller, who’s tip led them to the arrest of one suspect, to call back again.

“We know the (caller) saw enough to give us a detailed description of (a) vehicle” involved in one of the robberies, Lt. John Welter said, adding that police are concerned the caller is worried police will attempt to identify him. Welter said police just want to know what else the caller saw.

Brian Sullivan, 34, of La Jolla was shot and killed during one of the robberies on Mothers Day last May. He was in Jessop & Son’s Jewelers when the robbers walked in. He clung to life at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla for five days, before dying of a shot to the head.

Police say the Jessop’s thieves were part of the same group that robbed a second La Jolla jewelry store just down the street, C.J. Charles Jewelers Ltd., at the same time Sullivan was being shot.

The robbers in both holdups wore black clothing. Two getaway cars used in the robberies were found in Pacific Beach.

Two days after the robbery, an unidentified caller provided specific information about a third vehicle that was involved in the crime that police had known nothing about, Welter said.

The caller’s information led to the arrest last Thursday of 29-year-old Alton Pierce of Bakersfield.

From Bakersfield, police traced a second suspect back to San Diego. Jenifer Inez Arce, 22, was also arrested last Thursday.

Both Pierce and Acre pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, conspiracy and robbery at a felony arraignment in San Diego Municipal Court on Tuesday.