Police in San Diego have arrested a new suspect in a series of deadly attacks on the homeless after two more homeless men were attacked early on Friday.
Officers detained the suspect after he allegedly injured the two victims, who were sleeping on the streets, in separate attacks shortly after 4am.
He is being questioned about those attacks as well as a homicidal spree last week in which three men were killed and a fourth was left in critical condition.
Police launched a massive manhunt which appeared to end last Friday with the arrest of Anthony Alexander Padgett, a transient with a violent record, only for police to release him on Monday without charge.
The name of the new suspect, who is reportedly being interrogated at Bankers Hill, has not yet been released.
“If this is our guy, we’re going to feel very relieved,” police captain David Nisleit told news crews. “We’ve been working around the clock. There is no doubt in my mind this is part of our series.”
Local reporters tweeted images of the arrest.
Friday’s first attack happened near 13th and A streets. The assailant rode away on a bicycle. The victim was taken to hospital in an unknown condition.
The second attack happened a short while later at 19th and C streets in Golden Hill. Officers found the victim, a 55-year-old transient, screaming due to a severe chest wound. He is expected to survive.
Nisleit said officers found the suspect riding a bicycle on Laurel Street near Union Street. Police had issued a sketch of the suspected serial killer on Thursday.
The brutal attacks have chilled the homeless community in the southern Californian city and put intense pressure on police. Tens of thousands of tourists are due next week for Comic-Con, the annual pop culture jamboree.
The attacks began on 2 July when the body of Angelo de Nardo, 53, was found on fire between a local freeway and train tracks. He suffered extensive trauma to his upper torso and died before his body was set alight.
The next day another homeless man, Manuel Mason, 61, suffered severe injuries to his torso. He is in critical condition. A short while later the same day police found the bloodied body of another homeless man, Shawn Longley, 41.
Dionicio Derek Vahidy, 23, died on Sunday in hospital four days after being doused with flammable liquid and set on fire while he was sleeping.
The city breathed a sigh of relief last week when police announced the arrest of Padgett on suspicion of the grisly crimes.
He resembled a suspect in surveillance video and had been convicted in 2010 of setting fire to a fellow transient. His subsequent release without charge embarrassed authorities, who resumed the manhunt, the biggest in recent memory.
