7. Director Of Operations – John “Unique” Ayala
John “Unique” Ayala (King) joined The Guardian Angels in 1983. He is a native New Yorker and was born in Brooklyn and raised in Staten Island. He grew up in a low-income neighborhood and saw drugs being sold in front of and behind every building. Most kids in the neighborhood belonged to a gang. At the age of 8, John joined the Young Marine Cadets as an alternative to the gangs. The Bruce Lee films he watched on Saturdays motivated him to begin learning Martial Arts.
When John was 14 years old he met a few Guardian Angels. He liked the fact that they looked like a gang, but were out to help people that could not help themselves. After finding out that the Guardian Angels studied Martial Arts, he decided he had to be part of this group of young men and women. John lied about his age and joined the group.
In 1989, at the age of 19, Mr. Ayala relocated to the Washington DC Metropolitan area to bring the concept of the Guardian Angels program to our nation’s capitol. During the course of his duties, John was stabbed, and was cut on patrol by a drug dealer. These incidents did not stop him, he continues to do what he believes in – keeping the street safe and free of drugs.
