One of two suspects wanted in connection with an armed home invasion robbery in Rancho Santa Fe was arrested Thursday, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed.
Deputies took David Grub, 43, into custody without incident in the 1800 block of Tavern Court in Alpine at around 1 p.m. after the Encinitas Sheriff’s Station received a tip.
With assistance from SWAT, deputies served an arrest warrant for Grub, who’s a suspect in an armed home invasion robbery that happened on El Mirlo in Rancho Santa Fe on Dec. 20.
In that incident, Grub and a second unknown male suspect forced their way inside a home while a housekeeper was inside, holding the woman at gunpoint. The men allegedly handcuffed the woman so she couldn’t call for help while they ransacked the home, stealing jewelry, antique clocks and other expensive items.
The suspects had been at large ever since the robbery. Deputies released sketches of the men last month in hopes of tracking down their whereabouts.
Besides this high-profile home invasion robbery in Rancho Santa Fe, detectives say Grub is also a suspect in two other cases: a La Jolla home invasion robbery and a bizarre residential burglary that happened in Pacific Beach last summer.
On May 24, 2012, a resident of a home in the 1600 block of Loring Street in Pacific Beach allegedly spotted Grub walking away from the home carrying a drawer that was part of the resident’s dresser.
Detectives say Grub put the dresser inside the trunk of a car and sped off. When the resident went inside his home, he discovered his drawer was missing and jewelry had been stolen.
In the La Jolla home invasion, which happened on August 1, 2012, a real estate agent was allegedly accosted at gunpoint by Grub inside a luxury, multi-million dollar home just after she finished showing it to a prospective buyer. Grub stole jewelry and fur coats from the home, along with the agent's cell phone.
As Grub was leaving, he encountered the 76-year-old owner of the home in the driveway, who saw him carrying stolen items and confronted him.
Grub dropped the items pointed his gun at the homeowner, firing two shots at the ground near the victim’s feet. Concrete shrapnel flew up from the roadway and the victim sustained minor facial injuries as Grub once again fled the scene.
Following Grub's arrest on Thursday, he was booked into jail on seven charges including robbery, burglary, false imprisonment and various weapons-related offenses, officials said.
He's scheduled to appear in court Monday and again on Mar. 12.
Meanwhile, officials say a search warrant in connection with the Rancho Santa Fe home invasion case was also served at a home in the 11600 block of Via Vista in Lakeside, though no further details were released about that Thursday. The investigation is ongoing, as the second suspect in that case remains outstanding.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the sheriff’s department at (858) 565-5200 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
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