Rash of Crimes Leaves 1 Man Dead : Violence: Martin Hidalgo is fatally stabbed in Oxnard. In another case, a large gang brawl erupts outside a club.

A spate of late-night crimes in Oxnard and Ventura has left one man dead, another seriously wounded and several more bruised from a large gang brawl outside a notoriously rowdy nightclub.

Authorities on Friday were also investigating a Ventura man arrested on suspicion of assaulting his 18-year-old wife and an incident in which three teen-agers were threatened at gunpoint in retaliation for an earlier assault.

In the most serious incident, 24-year-old Martin Jesus Hidalgo was fatally stabbed Thursday just before midnight at an apartment in the 1400 block of Fremont Way in north Oxnard.

The stabbing was first reported as a shooting by a next-door neighbor. When officers arrived, Hidalgo already had been taken to the hospital, but there were signs that a violent struggle had taken place.

Occupants of the apartment told police that Hidalgo and another man were intruders in the apartment. Other details remain sketchy, and officers said they do not know the motive for the assault.

On Friday, a woman and man inside the apartment refused to comment. Drops of what appeared to be blood stained the dingy stairwell leading to the second-floor apartment, and a large upstairs window had been shattered. On a glass pane, someone had scrawled the name of an Oxnard gang.

One neighbor said she heard shouting coming from the apartment followed a short time later by police and fire sirens. Others said they heard the sirens, but were afraid to go outside.

“I try not to know what’s going on over there because I’ve got kids,” said a woman, who did not want to be identified. “You never know.”

Deputy Coroner Dale Zentzis said Hidalgo died at 3:37 a.m. during surgery at St. John’s Regional Medical Center. Doctors were unable to stop the bleeding from the stab wounds in Hidalgo’s upper torso.

The four other incidents took place in Ventura and El Rio.

The first occurred about 6:30 a.m. Thursday when 30-year-old John Williams was arrested on suspicion of trying to choke his 18-year-old wife, Carrie, at her home on East Warner Street in Ventura.

Williams was booked into Ventura County Jail and was being held Friday in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Later that night, at about 9:30, police arrested Jason Friedman, 20, Dustin Peck, 21, and a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of threatening a trio of juveniles with a handgun. The threats, made at a home in the 300 block of South Brookshire Avenue, were in retaliation for an earlier beating, Ventura police said. Both Friedman and Peck remained in County Jail late Friday. They were each being held on $20,000 bail.

An hour later in El Rio, 23-year-old Steve Murillo was arrested on suspicion of stabbing an acquaintance, Albert Aparicio, 23, of El Rio. Before the assault, the two had been drinking together in a neighborhood bar. Murillo was booked into County Jail and was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Aparicio was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where he was listed in serious but stable condition late Thursday. A hospital spokeswoman refused to release any information about Aparicio’s condition on Friday.

In the final incident, Ventura police were called at 1:40 a.m. to break up a large melee among three gangs outside the Metro Bay Club at 317 E. Main St.

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Witnesses told police that numerous people were waving guns or beating other patrons who had exited the bar. It took nine Ventura officers and a sheriff’s deputy 20 minutes to break up the fights in the street.

Only one person, 28-year-old Anthony Lozano, was arrested, on suspicion of fighting in public. Those who suffered injuries in the brawl left without seeking medical help.

Sgt. Bob Velez said the fight started as a verbal confrontation inside the club, which has become known as a trouble spot in the city.

Commenting on the cause of the brawl, he said: “Too much testosterone and too much alcohol. That’s as succinct as I can put it.”

Times correspondent Kay Saillant contributed to this story.