PUBLIC SAVIOR.

Byline: Jan Jonas JJONAS@ABQTRIB.COM / 823-3627

'Rat Pack' driver Gilbert Mares has taken on a mauling pit bull and thwarted a thief during his daily rounds as a mild-mannered garbage man

Have Rat Pack. Will travel. Will save lives. Will police the streets.

Gilbert Mares, a driver with the city's Solid Waste Department, operates a small, white pickup equipped with a compactor and hydraulic system that can nimbly negotiate Albuquerque streets, alleys and roads.

The truck is nicknamed the "Rat Pack," and picks up garbage containers in residential areas.

"I never have a dull day on my job," Mares says.

But it's the driver and not the vehicle that seems to get attention these days, because Gilbert Mares has had more than one brush with heroism.

Back in early December, while driving his route near Central and Copper Avenues …