Police arrested a suspect Friday in connection with a spree of assaults that wounded five homeless men, three fatally, in various San Diego neighborhoods over the last two weeks.

Jon David Guerrero, 39, was taken into custody in the 500 block of West Laurel Street in the Park West area shortly before 5:30 a.m., roughly an hour after the latest non-fatal attack in the series came to light.

"We can all rest a little easier tonight, knowing this predator is off our streets," SDPD Chief Shelley Zimmerman said during a mid-afternoon briefing.

The chief said she "firmly" believed Guerrero was the person "responsible for these vicious crimes," during which the victims were brutalized — two of them set on fire — as they slept on roadsides, in open areas and under freeway bridges.

"I say that with complete confidence after receiving a thorough briefing from our homicide unit and fully understanding the significant amount of physical evidence they have collected to date, and throughout this entire investigation," Zimmerman told reporters.

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Guerrero, a Coronado native who most recently has lived in downtown San Diego, was expected to be booked on three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of arson.

The spate of homicidal violence across the city has left San Diegans — particularly those who live on its urban streets — shaken and on edge since the Fourth of July weekend.

The most recent assault occurred early this morning near the intersection of 19th and C Streets in the East Village. The 55-year-old victim suffered "significant trauma" to his upper body but was expected to survive, SDPD Capt. David Nisleit told reporters.

Images of a man believed to be the killer were captured by surveillance cameras at a Bay Park convenience store early on the morning of July 3, shortly before the burning body of 53-year-old transient Angelo De Nardo was found in a nearby open area off Morena Boulevard.

The following day, 41-year-old Shawn Longley was found dead at a park on Bacon Street in Ocean Beach, and 61-year-old Manuel Mason was severely wounded near Valley View Casino Center in the Midway district, according to police.

On the morning of July 6, another homeless man, 23-year-old Dionicio Vahidy, was gravely wounded in downtown San Diego by an assailant who fled after leaving a towel burning on top of the victim. Vahidy died in a hospital four days later.

This week, police released a composite rendering of the assailant, base on input from a witness to the first attack.

Authorities have not released the victims' causes of death or disclosed a suspected motive for the violence.

Last week, a South Bay transient was jailed on suspicion of committing the assaults, but was released four days later, just before he was due to make his initial court appearance in the case. The 36-year-old suspect was freed after detectives uncovered evidence that cast doubt on his guilt, Nisleit said.

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