Guardian Angel, 24, Arrested in Tijuana

A member of the Guardian Angels was arrested by Tijuana police Monday evening as he and four others patrolled for border bandits in the Colonia Libertad neighborhood.

Tijuana police previously had warned the Guardian Angels, who began patrolling the border on May 18, that they would face arrest if they were caught inside Mexico.

Arrested was Rick Brooks, 24, of Los Angeles, according to Curtis Sliwa, founder and president of the Guardian Angels and one of the five on patrol. The uniformed group had been walking the neighborhood for more than an hour when they were confronted by Tijuana police, Sliwa said. He and three others ran across the border into the United States, but Brooks was apprehended by police and taken away, Sliwa said.

Tijuana police Monday night would neither confirm nor deny Brooks’ arrest, but an officer at the Colonia Libertad holding cell said the group “had no right to patrol on Mexican soil.”