To keep warm, he wraps himself in a blanket and tries to make himself as inconspicuous - and comfortable - as possible by lying on top of his makeshift bed at the side of a gas station in Kensington.

The Liberty Gas Station on North Hope Street near Lehigh Avenue is his nightly rest stop, but just before 7 p.m. Tuesday his sleep was violently interrupted when at least two juveniles approached him and set his blanket on fire, police said.

Investigators couldn't make out what the perps looked like or what they used to ignite Dejesus' blanket because of the blurry gas-station surveillance video, said an unnamed police source, but the object resembled a lighter or burning cardboard, he said.

Dejesus, 49, was taken to Episcopal Hospital, where he was treated for minor burns to his hands and fingers and later released.

When Sam Santiago, an outreach response worker for Project HOME - a group dedicated to helping Philadelphia's homeless - heard about the incident he went looking for Dejesus, only to find him at the exact spot where he was attacked earlier that day.

Santiago said Dejesus was slightly intoxicated as he described what had happened, and showed Santiago the blisters on his hands.

"He seemed fine," said Santiago, who spoke to Dejesus in Spanish.

There have been reports of four other attacks on homeless people in the city this month, according to Sarah Erdo, program manager for Project HOME's outreach center, located on Fairmount Avenue near 15th Street.

Among the victims was "Ponytail," a South Philadelphia panhandler whose coat and possessions were set on fire three weeks ago, Santiago said.

Erdo calls it a "heartbreaking" trend. "They're victims being further victimized," she said.

Those in the homeless population, like Dejesus - a small, mild-mannered man - are often defenseless against the brutal attacks, police said.

The biggest inciters of violence against the homeless are teenage males, said Michael Stoops, executive director for the National Coalition for the Homeless, based in Washington.

"They think they can get away with it," he said. "They prey on vulnerable people living in vulnerable situations."

The disturbing teen-on-homeless crimes continue to rise across the country.

The Coalition reported 122 attacks against and 20 killings of the homeless nationwide in 2006, the most attacks in nearly a decade. Most of the attacks were committed by people between the ages of 13 and 19, Stoops said.

"They're easy marks," said Stoops. Forty-four percent of them live in unsheltered locations.

Often, however, they decide to stay where they are. In Dejesus' case, he didn't accept Santiago's promise of shelter and help, and opted to stay at his outdoor location. Santiago, who has worked with the homeless population for almost a decade, said he understands.

"He's just not ready to take that step," he said. *