BREAKING NEWS:

A Costa Mesa man was stabbed to death Tuesday night in what police said was a traffic dispute in a usually quiet area of town.

Around 9 p.m., Daniel Martinez Rios, 33, was found near his apartment at 2550 Santa Ana Ave. with multiple stab wounds. Rios had been assaulted by his neighbor, 28-year-old Evelio Aguilar Gomez, after having a minor car accident with Gomez’s girlfriend, said Costa Mesa Sgt. Don Holford.

“Basically, she called her boyfriend and he was at a different location in the city, and he came over and got into a fight with the suspect and stabbed him multiple times,” Holford said.

Rios died at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana shortly afterward. As of Wednesday morning, police had not located Gomez, whom they described as armed and dangerous. Witnesses said that the suspect left the scene in a dark blue Ford F-150 truck and was last seen heading south on Santa Ana Avenue.

Police said that Rios had a wife and three young children.

On Wednesday, Rios’ extended family stopped by to comfort his wife and three young children. His cousin, Hector Martinez of Anaheim, said Rios worked as a bolt-cleaner in Newport Beach.

“He was a really loving dad,” Martinez said. “He was a nice person, very caring with his children. He was a family guy.”

Neighbor Janie Marquis, who has lived in the east Costa Mesa neighborhood for 18 years, said she was shocked when she drove home Tuesday night and saw yellow tape and police cars on her block.

“There’s hardly any crime here at all,” she said.