Businesses and residents are calling for more police presence in Chinatown following an attack on a man and woman yesterday just yards away from where a man was gunned down March 28 on River Street.

"It's scary," said Chu Lan Shubert Kwock, president of the Chinatown Business & Community Association. "You don't know when you're going to be in the line of fire."

Kwock's group is asking for a doubling of police presence in the historic district, and has sent an open letter to the mayor highlighting their concerns.

In addition to the association, several community leaders signed the letter, including state lawmakers, members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Hawaii Arts Alliance.

Bill Brennan, city spokesman, could not immediately comment on the letter because he had not yet seen it.

The letter to the mayor says, "Crime in Chinatown is out of control." In addition to more police presence, the association is asking for a city crackdown on "crime, drugs and homelessness" in A'ala Park, weekly progress meetings with the community on Chinatown crime, and a "comprehensive, immediate plan to crack down on crime in Chinatown."

The letter comes a day after an attack on River Street in Chinatown.

In that incident, which happened about 1:30 p.m., a group of men beat and stabbed a man and punched and kicked his female acquaintance.

The man was taken by acquaintances to The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition. The woman was transported by ambulance to Queen's in stable condition.

Police have not linked the stabbing to the March 28 death of Joseph Peneueta, who was fatally shot by two men at the corner of Pauahi and River streets.

Zorro Rye and Iosefa Pasene have been charged with second-degree murder in Peneueta's death. A judge this week ordered that Rye and Pasene be held without bail.