2 Men Stabbed in Separate Incidents on Ventura Pier : Crime: Violence occurs within a three-hour period. Councilman says he would consider nighttime closure for newly renovated site.

Two men were stabbed within a three-hour period ending early Sunday in unrelated attacks on the newly renovated Ventura Pier--an outbreak of violence that prompted one city official to urge closing it after dark.

Dennis Taylor, a 40-year-old Ventura native, was listed in critical condition Sunday in the intensive care unit at Ventura County Medical Center, recovering from a stab wound to the stomach.

Adan Anaya of Long Beach was stabbed in the shoulder about 2:15 a.m. Sunday after attempting to break up a fight between six other men. Anaya was also treated at Ventura County Medical Center for his wound, but was released within hours.

No arrests have been made in either case, and police said they had no reason to believe that the two stabbings were related.

Ventura Councilman Gary Tuttle, who two weeks ago voted against a ban on alcohol at the pier, said Sunday that he now would consider closing the pier overnight.

“It was an issue that could go either way until (Saturday) night,” he said. “I think that’s probably up for good consideration right now.”

Meanwhile, Ventura police said they plan to step up their patrol of the pier.

“We have certainly directed our officers to spend as much time as they can in that area,” Sgt. Randy Janes said.

Taylor said he was fishing at the end of the pier about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when he noticed some men arguing nearby.

“They were picking on this one guy and when I said something (the suspect) stuck a knife in my gut,” Taylor said from his hospital bed Sunday. “I just told them to mellow out and then he stabbed me. I didn’t even see him.”

Police said one of Taylor’s friends wrested the knife from the attacker, who then fled on foot.

Investigators said Taylor was acquainted with the suspect, described as a white male between 25 and 30 years old, but Taylor said he did not know who stabbed him.

About three hours later, Anaya and his father-in-law, Asencion Peneda of Los Angeles, were fishing on the pier when a fight broke out between six men, Ventura police said.

In that incident, police said an unidentified man grabbed a fishing knife belonging to Anaya, apparently to use as a weapon in his fight with the others. When Anaya protested, the suspect hit him with a folding chair and stabbed him in the left shoulder, according to police.

Peneda was beaten by two other men as he tried to aid his son-in-law, but he required no medical attention, police said. The suspect in the second case is described as a Latino male about 20 years old wearing an Army-type field jacket.

The violence at the pier surprised many of those strolling there Sunday morning.

“We were here fishing until 8 o’clock last night and there was nobody here,” said Roger Fraser, who sells bait from a tackle stand at the foot of the wharf. “I’m just shocked.”

The facility was opened earlier this month after a 13-month renovation.