SAN DIEGO — A patron of a fast food restaurant in the Mountain View neighborhood was repeatedly stabbed early Thursday, police said.

The 23-year-old victim and several other people were eating in a vehicle outside the Jack in the Box on South 43rd Street near Z Street when a man walked up and asked for money shortly before 1 a.m., San Diego police Officer Robert Heims said.

An argument ensued and the suspect challenged the victim to a fight, according to the officer. However, the suspect stabbed the victim in the stomach multiple times as he got out of the car.

The suspect took off, and the victim was taken to a hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Heims said.

Police described the assailant as a 30- to 40-year-old black man with a thin, muscular build and cornrows. He was clean-shaven and was wearing a white T-shirt, a tan vest and black or brown pants.