A Pacifica man arrested early Wednesday morning for allegedly killing a man found Tuesday night on Skyline Boulevard, near where another stabbing victim was found the night before has been identified by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office as Malik Dosouqi, 26.
The victim has been identified as John Sione Pekipaki, 31, whose city of residence is unknown. Alta Vista High School Principal Bill Pierce on Wednesday said a student named John Pekipaki attended the Mountain View continuation school in the early 2000s, and a Facebook page under the same name identified him as an Alta Vista student who graduated from Mountain View High in 2005.
San Mateo County sheriff’s deputies arrested Dosouqi as he fled the scene of the second fatal stabbing on Skyline Boulevard near the town of Woodside shortly after midnight. Deputies investigating the death the night before (June 17) of 32-year-old Abdulmalek Nasher of Pacifica heard a man calling for help just before midnight. They found Pekipaki lying on the ground in a turnout off Skyline, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. He died of his injuries at the scene.
“Simultaneously, near the scene in this remote area, deputies saw a man fleeing the area, in a vehicle, who they believed to be the suspect,” the news release says.
“A deputy fired at the oncoming vehicle which was driving towards the victim and both deputies,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “The suspect was not hit by gunfire, but the vehicle went off the roadway into a ditch. The suspect was taken into custody and is receiving medical care for a laceration to his arm.”
Dosouqi will be booked into the San Mateo County Jail once he is medically cleared, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The two slayings happened in close proximity to each other, according to the Sheriff’s Office, and investigators are “actively looking into a connection” between them.
After the first victim was found by a deputy who was driving down Skyline Monday night, the search for the killer Tuesday included the use of tracking dogs, two SWAT teams, a helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft, the news release says. Residents in the area were asked to shelter in place and not open the door of their home to anyone they didn’t know or who wasn’t a law enforcement officer.
The investigation continued, and evidence discovered during that time led deputies back to the scene to look for more evidence Tuesday night; they found the second victim at around 11:55 p.m.
Skyline Boulevard was closed in both directions between Swett and Reids Roost roads much of Tuesday morning, and closed again early Wednesday morning for investigation of the deaths. It was reopened at about 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Email Renee Batti at rbatti@almanacnews.com and Rick Radin at rradin@almanacnews.com
