Two El Cajon men have been arrested in connection with Friday's fatal shooting of a 26-year-old Ace Parking employee near downtown San Diego.
They were taken into custody by detectives from the Fugitive Task Force as the men were leaving their apartment on East Madison Avenue in El Cajon at 7 p.m. Tuesday, said San Diego police homicide Lt. Kevin Rooney.
They were identified as Jason Rochelle, 20, and William Ulysses Grant, 35. They were being held on suspicion of murder and conspiracy.
Police would not say what led them to the suspects, but “more arrests are possible,” Rooney said.
A homicide team worked on the case almost nonstop over three days after Bryan Dawson died of his wounds at a hospital Saturday morning.
Dawson was shot about 8 p.m. after driving from an Ace lot downtown to the company office at Sixth Avenue near Ash Street.
“I am glad there have been arrests, but I haven't yet heard from police, so I don't know much else,” said the victim's wife, Corall Dawson, from her home in Bakersfield.
The couple had been living apart for the past few months while Dawson tried to get his life back together in San Diego, she said.
He was making progress.
When the couple split, Dawson had no job and he no longer was the easygoing, funny guy Corall Dawson, 25, said she married six years ago.
“He was only funny when we weren't arguing about finances,” she said.
After they separated, Dawson was hired by Ace and started attending classes at San Diego City College.
“He wanted to someday help troubled youth,” Corall Dawson said. “He was just turning things around when this happened.”
The couple were expecting to reunite.
“Now I just have to explain all this to his 4-year-old daughter,” she said. “We are all having a lot of trouble dealing with this, let alone the expenses.”
Bryan Dawson also has an 11-year-old stepdaughter.
Corall Dawson said she believes her husband was killed in a robbery attempt, and she did not recognize the names of the suspects as men she or her husband knew.
Rewards totaling $26,000 are being offered – $25,000 by Ace Parking and $1,000 by San Diego County Crime Stoppers – for information that leads to convictions in the case.
Christopher Dale, director of communications for Ace Parking Management, said the company was pleased that arrests had been made.
“We want to thank San Diego police for their hard work,” Dale said. The company hired Dawson in December.
Funeral services in Bakersfield will be private. The family is requesting donations to help with the arrangements. Wells Fargo Bank has set up at an account. More information is available at (616) 324-3253.
Joe Hughes: (619) 542-4591; joe.hughes@uniontrib.com
