Man and woman arrested after 3 men stabbed in Costa Mesa knife fight caught on film

Two Newport Beach residents were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with a knife fight at a Costa Mesa nightclub the night before that injured three men, one of whom is in critical condition, police reported.

Tremere Robert Mason and Nancy Ahmad Bakir, both 23, of Newport Beach, were found by police following the altercation at a location roughly 6 miles from where the stabbings took place. Mason is being held in an Orange County jail on $500,000 bail, court records indicate.

The incident occurred Tuesday at 11:15 p.m. in a parking lot on the 1800 block of Harbor Boulevard, according to a news release issued Thursday by the Costa Mesa Police Department.

Officers responding to the scene found a man with a severe laceration to his arm and learned a second victim, who’d been stabbed in the chest, had been taken to the hospital by a friend and undergone surgery, the release indicated. That individual was later listed in stable condition.

A third victim was identified by police, who reported that person had been stabbed in the lower back. He and the initial victim were hospitalized following the incident but were released from the hospital on Wednesday, police reported.

Although CMPD is not releasing the names of the victims, the release indicates all three were men in their 20s. During their investigation, officers learned the stabbings followed a disturbance between two individuals that had taken place earlier that night in a nightclub on Harbor Boulevard.

Security personnel at the club told police that both parties had been ejected from the club. One of the individuals — identified as one of the stabbing victims — reportedly messaged his friends and told them he’d been kicked out, though it is unclear from police reports where the man’s friends were at the time.

Police believe Mason and Bakir followed the man and his friends to the parking lot, with Bakir recording the incident as it happened. Video footage from that night was taken as evidence, CMPD reported.

Mason confronted the group, stabbing one man in the lower back before slashing another in the arm, the news release stated. He then followed the third victim and stabbed him in the chest, before walking to a vehicle with Bakir and fleeing the scene, according to the release.

Costa Mesa Police detectives identified the suspects and detained them Wednesday on the 4300 block of Jamboree Road in Irvine. After an interview, they were both taken into custody. Mason was booked on suspicion of attempted homicide and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Bakir was booked for allegedly being an accessory after the fact, police reported.

Anyone with additional information about Tuesday’s incident is asked to call Det. Kris Moore at (714) 754-4986, email kmoore@costamesaca.gov or call Sgt. Monique Beckner at (714) 754-5352.

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