Police yesterday were searching for a group of men who beat and stabbed a man and punched and kicked his female acquaintance in Chinatown just yards away from where a man was gunned down March 28.

Police would not say whether the two incidents are related.

Yesterday's incident happened shortly after 1:30 p.m. on River Street between Beretania and Pauahi streets. Police said the group of males approached the man and woman, punched and stabbed the man several times and then assaulted the woman.

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

No arrests had been made as of 9:30 p.m. and police would not say what led to the attack. Police also would not link yesterday's incident with the March 28 death of Joseph Peneueta, who was shot to death 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.

As police investigated yesterday's incident, a roadside memorial of flowers, beer and bottles of liquor left for Peneueta continued to grow.

A woman who witnessed yesterday's attack said she believed the two incidents are related because they involved a new group of people who have begun to frequent the area.

The woman, who did not want to be identified because she feared retaliation, said she's worked in the area for more than 20 years and that there is a noticeable increase in fear among people who live and work there.

"I don't know who they are, but I see them around," the woman said of the outsiders. "Before they were not here, we were peaceful."

The woman said she's seen yesterday's victims in the area, but didn't know their names.

"I see them around almost every single day. I don't know what kind of business they have here every day, but they should not even be around here," she said.

Yesterday, the woman said, she was looking out of a window when she saw at least four large men beating a man in the middle of River Street. She called 911 and when she looked again, she saw blood on the man's stomach area and also saw the men punching the woman in the face.

"They punched her, too. They knocked her down, but she was strong and got up right away," said the woman, who added she did not see the man get stabbed.

When they were done beating the two, the men got into a car and drove off, the woman said.

The witness said the increase in criminal activity is having an effect on her business.

"My customers are afraid to come around because sometimes they sit down there," she said of the newcomers to the area. "They hang around, these people, the ones that were attacked. Before, nobody was hanging around here."