A 31-year-old Covelo man already wanted in connection with an October 1 stabbing was arrested Saturday, October 10, after a second alleged knife attack left another victim with wounds to the neck and chest. Jefferey Allan Joaquin was taken into custody without bail on suspicion of attempted murder, parole violations and other offenses following a brief foot pursuit down a dirt trail near Pine Grove Cemetery.
A Second Attack Nine Days Later
Joaquin had been sought by authorities since an October 1 stabbing in Covelo that left a 33-year-old man with multiple stab wounds, according to kymkemp.com. In that earlier incident, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said Joaquin approached the victim from behind and stabbed him multiple times before fleeing the area, as reported by the Ukiah Daily Journal. He was charged in that case on October 7, with an arrest warrant ordered the following day and issued October 9, and was arrested after a second stabbing nine days later.
The second stabbing, which triggered Tuesday’s manhunt, left a male victim reportedly suffering multiple stab wounds to his neck and chest; the victim was flown out by air ambulance to an out-of-county hospital and was later discharged after emergency treatment, per the sheriff’s press release underlying the original report. A deputy initially responded to a victim report and learned the stabbing had occurred at Pine Grove Cemetery.
Tracked Down a Dirt Trail
Deputies proceeded to Henderson Road after Joaquin was reportedly seen there, then learned he had been spotted walking westbound along a dirt trail between Tabor Lane and Concow Boulevard. Round Valley Tribal Police officers also responded to his last reported location, and a deputy ultimately located Joaquin in the 100 block of Concow Boulevard, where he was possibly in possession of a large knife, according to the sheriff’s account relayed by Mendovoice.
After the deputy ordered Joaquin to surrender and activated a Taser, Joaquin ran, prompting a short foot pursuit. The deputy found him sitting in a ditch and deployed the Taser a second time, incapacitating him before he was taken into custody alongside tribal police without further incident. Sheriff Matt Kendall described resistance and a scuffle during the encounter.
Parole Status and Pending Charges
Joaquin was examined at a local-area hospital and cleared for incarceration before being booked into the Mendocino County Jail, where he is being held without bail. He faces suspicion of attempted murder, violating parole, resisting an officer with force or violence and obstructing an officer, and he is also wanted on two felony warrants, the station notes.
One of those warrants carried $1 million bail, while the second was issued for violating terms of his California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation parole. Joaquin was on active CDCR parole and awaiting sentencing in a separate assault-with-a-deadly-weapon case at the time of his arrest, per the same account. Court records reportedly show prosecutors charged Joaquin in the October 1 stabbing on October 7, with an arrest warrant ordered the following day and issued October 9.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about either incident to call 707-463-4086, option 1, or to leave an anonymous tip through its non-emergency tip line at 707-234-2100. As is standard, the reported information has not been proven in court, and Joaquin is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
