(CNN) San Diego police on Thursday morning arrested a 36-year-old man in connection with a series of attacks on the California city's homeless population, police announced. 
 
 Anthony Alexander Padgett was taken into custody in Chula Vista, just south of San Diego, Capt. David Nisleit told reporters. 
 
 Nisleit said police had probable cause for the arrest but didn't offer specifics. He said the investigation is ongoing and indicated tips from the public led to Padgett's arrest. 
 
 Authorities have not determined whether Padgett is their only suspect. 
 
 San Diego police are investigating at least four attacks against homeless people. 
 
 The first three attacks occurred in 25 hours from early Sunday to Monday. The fourth happened around 5 a.m. Wednesday, when authorities found a man ablaze on the ground across from the federal courthouse downtown. 
 
 That victim, a 23-year-old man, was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, Nisleit said Wednesday. A 61-year-old man who was beaten is also expected to survive, he said. 
 
 The motive for the attacks is unknown. 
 
 "We are providing outreach to our homeless to warn them of the dangers we are facing & asking them for their help." pic.twitter.com/3TUP6XZy4T — San Diego Police (@SanDiegoPD) July 6, 2016 
 
 Detectives have surveillance video from a convenience store. Nisleit said Thursday that police believe Padgett is on that video. 
 
 "This killer has targeted some of our city's most vulnerable residents while they are asleep," Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said. "Please, please, please -- public safety is a shared responsibility." 
 
 #SDPD needs your help to identify & locate the suspect(s) responsible for 2 homicides and a violent attack. pic.twitter.com/FqnW3103mq — San Diego Police (@SanDiegoPD) July 5, 2016 
 
 Nisleit said a burning towel was found on the latest victim. Witnesses saw a man crouched over the victim and described what they initially thought were burning clothes. 
 
 On Sunday morning, witnesses reported seeing a man on fire running down the train tracks alongside Interstate 5, according to CNN affiliate KSWB . Police later found the badly charred body of a male. 
 
 About the same time, witnesses reported seeing another man in his late 40s to early 50s darting across the freeway away from the train tracks carrying a gas can, said Lt. Manny Del Toro with the San Diego Police. 
 
 Two similar attacks took place early Monday morning, when officers found two more victims with severe trauma injuries, one who later died, police say. 
 
 San Diego homeless deaths 
 
 "We're absolutely convinced these attacks are linked," Nisleit said. "We're working through all these cases again." 
 
 All the attacks appear to be "senseless, random attacks on the homeless," he said. He encouraged the homeless population to sleep and walk in groups and noted that the attacks have been unnerving for the city. 
 
 "It is extremely unsettling for the public, it is extremely unsettling for the homeless population and it is extremely unsettling for the San Diego Police Department," Nisleit said. |||||  The manhunt for a killer targeting homeless men as they slept led to the arrest Thursday of a person believed to be behind the brutal attacks that left two dead and two in critical condition. 
 
 The suspect in the recent attacks, which rattled the homeless community, appears to have a similar crime in his past — a 2010 attack on a homeless acquaintance who was asleep when he was set ablaze. 
 
 Anthony Padgett, as seen on his Facebook page. — Facebook + Read Caption Share Photo  
 
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 Anthony Alexander Padgett, 36, was arrested by San Diego police officers near H Street and Broadway in Chula Vista about 10 a.m., San Diego homicide Capt. David Nisleit said during an evening news conference Thursday. 
 
 Padgett, of Chula Vista, was booked on two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of arson. 
 
 Padgett’s arrest came five days after the random attacks started. Two men were killed; another two men were attacked and critically injured. 
 
 Nisleit said Padgett is believed to be the man shown in pictures of surveillance footage that police and homeless advocacy groups have been circulating since the first attack on Sunday. 
 
 San Diego police have identified this man captured by surveillance cameras as the suspect in a series of attacks on homeless men that have left three dead, one critically hurt. San Diego Police Department — San Diego Police Department Share Photo  
 
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 "At this time, we have probable cause to arrest Mr. Padgett for these heinous crimes," he said. 
 
 He asked for patience as investigators continue their work, including finding and interviewing witnesses and analyzing physical evidence. Nisleit said police served search warrants at several locations, but did not say where. Investigators will also look into whether Padgett is linked to any other crimes against homeless victims. 
 
 He declined to say if Padgett is himself homeless. 
 
 The announcement of Padgett’s arrest created a sense of relief among San Diego’s homeless and the nonprofit agencies that counsel and assist them, said Bob McElroy of the Alpha Project. 
 
 "I know what to do for people when it’s pouring rain or super hot, but this had me freaking out," McElroy said. "This was creepy, man." 
 
 McElroy and Nisleit said, however, that it was important for homeless people and police to remain vigilant. 
 
 "I still believe there are other witnesses out there that might now be compelled to come forward and give us their story or give us some information to help continue to develop this case against Mr. Padgett," Nisleit said 
 
 He also said officers would continue their recent practice of informing and ardently updating the homeless of the attacks, showing them photos of the suspect, working to connect people with services and shelter, and advising them to be particularly aware of their surroundings. 
 
 "We’re going to still consider ... other recent attacks that have been happening over the past few weeks," Nisleit said. "We need to determine if Mr. Padgett is involved or if we still have another suspect out there attacking the homeless population." 
 
 The captain would not provide a motive for the four attacks this week. He said the department received information that led them to suspect Padgett, but did not go into more detail. 
 
 However, a police source said a deputy district attorney recognized the man in photographs of the suspect as a person linked to a previous arson case. 
 
 Court records and news reports indicate that a man with the same name and age as Padgett was charged with a felony in 2010. According to news reports at the time, the defendant was 29 years old and homeless when he attacked a friend, another homeless man 20 years his senior, in Chula Vista. The defendant was sentenced to four years in prison for mayhem, The Star News in Chula Vista reported. 
 
 In that case, the victim was set on fire as he slept. The last three victims in the recent attacks were asleep and alone when they were attacked. 
 
 Homicide investigators previously said they are certain one man was behind the recent attacks. Each targeted a transient who had been alone. Each victim suffered similar and significant trauma to the upper torso. 
 
 Investigators have declined to say how the men were attacked, and whether a weapon was used. 
 
 ATTACKS ON HOMELESS 
 
 The violent assaults began Sunday with the death of Angelo De Nardo, 53, who was killed and then set on fire at Morena Boulevard and Clairemont Drive, under the Interstate 5 bridge, about 8 a.m. 
 
 On Monday, about 4:50 a.m., Manuel Nunez Mason, 61, was critically injured on Greenwood Street in the Midway District. Less than two hours later, Shawn Mitchell Longley, 41, was found dead of injuries on Bacon Street in Ocean Beach. 
 
 Then, about 5 a.m. on Wednesday, witnesses heard loud noises and saw one man set another on fire along a walkway between condominium complexes between State Street and Kettner Boulevard, south of Broadway in downtown San Diego. Investigators said a towel was ignited on top of the critically injured man, but a witness grabbed it away before the victim was burned. 
 
 News of Padgett's arrest came as a surprise to his former boss at Johnny V, a Pacific Beach restaurant and nightclub where Padgett worked as a part-time dishwasher from April to June last year. 
 
 "No body language ever indicated that he would ever do something like that,” said the manager, who did not want to be named. 
 
 He described Padgett as a quiet person who kept to himself and performed his job to expectations. The manager said Padgett left on his own accord, possibly because he walked more than ten miles to get there. 
 
 Padgett's Facebook page states that he worked at Bullpen Bar and Grill in Clairemont starting in June of last year, then at Jonathan Beach Club in Santa Monica beginning in December. Supervisors at the Clairemont restaurant declined to be talk about Padgett, and a manager at the Santa Monica eatery did not return a call requesting an interview. 
 
 Following the announcement of his arrest, scores of people flooded Padgett's Facebook page with ruthless comments related to the alleged crimes. 
 
 After the press conference, a few TV news cameras filmed Padgett as he was taken from police headquarters to jail. As he was leaving, in the back of a police car, Padgett spoke to reporters, including 10News reporter Bree Steffen, who posted the video clip on Twitter. 
 
 “We’re innocent, innocent. We look like the person. We’re innocent,” Padgett said in the clip. “I look like that person, I’m innocent.” 
 
 Homeless attacks suspect speaks to reporters I asked Anthony Padgett if he killed those men. He says he's innocent. #10newsat11@10Newspic.twitter.com/SjofCFQOKu — Bree Steffen (@10NewsBree) July 8, 2016 
 
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– Relief in San Diego: A suspect was arrested Thursday in connection with a sickening series of attacks on homeless people that left two men dead and another two seriously injured, CNN reports. Police say they believe Anthony Alexander Padgett, 36, is the suspect captured on video at a convenience store near the site of the first attack early Sunday. Padgett, who allegedly inflicted severe upper body trauma on all four victims and set two of them on fire, has been charged with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and one count of arson. Police didn't comment on a motive for the attacks, or on whether Padgett is homeless himself. San Diego Capt. David Nisleit says there was "probable cause" to arrest Padgett, though he added there could be other suspects and that homeless people should remain vigilant, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Police need to consider "other recent attacks that have been happening over the past few weeks," Nisleit says. "We need to determine if Mr. Padgett is involved or if we still have another suspect out there attacking the homeless population." The Union-Tribune notes that in 2010, the Star-News reported that a 30-year-old homeless man named Anthony Padgett was sentenced to four years in prison for setting another homeless man on fire.