Authorities on Thursday released the name a transient who survived traumatic injuries believed to have been inflicted by an assailant responsible for a series of attacks that wounded five homeless men, three fatally.
RELATED: Suspect In Homeless Attacks Could Face Death Penalty If Convicted
Shortly after 4:30 a.m. last Friday, two harbor police officers who heard someone yelling for help as they were driving in the 1800 block of C Street pulled over and found Michael Papadelis, 55, badly wounded underneath an Interstate 5 bridge, according to San Diego police.
Papadelis, a local drifter with ties to Florida and New York, was hospitalized in serious but stable condition. He is expected to recover, SDPD Lt. Manny Del Toro said.
About an hour after the assault on Papadelis came to light, his alleged attacker was arrested while riding a bicycle a few miles away.
Authorities believe East Village resident Jon David Guerrero, 39, assaulted Papadelis and four other transients over a two-week period, severely wounding them and setting two of them on fire.
Guerrero, who grew up in Coronado, has been charged with three counts of murder and two counts of premeditated attempted murder, along with a special- circumstance allegation of multiple murder that makes him eligible for the death penalty or life in prison with no chance of parole.
The spree of assaults across the city left San Diegans — particularly those who live on the streets — shaken and on edge since the Fourth of July weekend.
The first attack in the series occurred July 3. About 8 a.m. that day, the burning body of Angelo De Nardo, 53, was found underneath a freeway offramp near the 2700 block of Morena Boulevard in Bay Park. Witnesses to the disturbing scene described seeing a man running across the freeway near Claremont Drive, carrying a gas can.
The following day, Shawn Longley, 41, was found dead at a park on Bacon Street in Ocean Beach, and 61-year-old transient Manuel Mason was discovered severely wounded near Valley View Casino Center in the Midway district.
On the morning of July 6, Dionicio Vahidy, 23, was gravely wounded in downtown San Diego by an assailant who fled after leaving a towel burning on top of him. Vahidy died in a hospital four days later.
Like Papadelis, Mason is expected to survive his wounds.
Officials have not disclosed the nature of the injuries the victims suffered or publicly identified a suspected motive for the violence. There are no indications that the suspect knew the victims, according to police.
