Fight escalates after man flirts with salon employees

It was an ugly scene outside a local beauty salon Sunday night.

The husband of the salon’s owner pulled a knife on at least one man flirting with female employees, police said.

Jose Luis Martinez, 31, of Costa Mesa, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon after a pushing match with a 27-year-old Costa Mesa man outside Leonella’s Beauty Salon escalated when Martinez went inside the store and came out with a knife, Costa Mesa Lt. Bob Ciszek said.

“I guess he frequents the salon and flirts with some of the female employees,” Ciszek said of the victim. “It initially started off as a pushing match.”

Martinez tried to get the man to leave the shop, in the 800 block of West 19th Street. Police said Martinez went inside and got a knife and chased the man away. Martinez is in custody and is ineligible for bail, according to court documents.

— Joseph Serna