On April 19, 2011 at 7:30 a.m., San Diego Police Department officers responded to a report of a shooting at 1930 Rosecrans St. They arrived at Joe’s Auto Repair to find Jalal (Joe) Abou, the shop owner, lying in the driveway of his business. Abou suffered numerous gunshot wounds and died at the scene. The SDPD Homicide Unit responded to investigate the murder. Detectives identified the suspect as a former employee, Nicolas Rosales, and obtained a warrant for his arrest for the murder. Detectives subsequently learned that Rosales had fled to Mexico and was in custody there for charges unrelated to the homicide. A provisional arrest warrant was obtained for Rosales to ensure his arrest and extradition to the United States upon being released from custody. On Sept. 12, the United States Marshalls Service took custody of Rosales from Mexican officials and transported him to the United States. Once back in the U.S., he was arrested for the murder warrant and his custody was transferred to the San Diego Police Department. Rosales was booked into County Jail after being interviewed by the SDPD Homicide Unit. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.
