Guardian Angels to Patrol for Serial Killer

A group of Guardian Angels said Monday it would begin patrolling the Santa Ana River trail to ward off a .

"There's really nobody else to look out for them," Inland Empire Guardian Angels spokesman Dave Eagle said at a press conference held across the river from Anaheim Stadium. "We want to be a visual deterrent."

From sundown to sunrise three to four nights a week, two to 15 Angels will walk along various sections of the river trail, communicating by radio, he said. Two members will drive cars around other areas where the homeless camp out, he said.

Eagle declined to specify which nights and locations the group would patrol, saying, "We want to keep him [the killer] guessing. ... Just like he's stalking the homeless, we're looking to stalk him."

The Guardian Angels, which began in 1979 as a weapons-free anti-crime patrol on New York subways, now operates in 17 nations, according to the group's website.

More than half the group's local members are ex-military, Eagle said. Because no members live in Orange County, the Santa Ana River patrols will be handled by volunteers from L.A., San Diego and Riverside counties. But the group hopes to recruit a few O.C. members.

"You've gotta care about people you don't know to risk your life for them," Eagle said.

The Angels are also posting fliers and distributing handbills advising the homeless to stay in groups and, if attacked, scream and fight: "You have a better chance of survival if you fight back."

Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn, who is helping to coordinate law enforcement's serial killer task force, said he didn't want to comment on Guardian Angel involvement until he hears specifics from the group.

To read more about the suspected serial killer and his three victims, .