Woman pleads not guilty following police chase

Published 1:30 am Saturday, June 6, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Jensen Gimlin pleaded not guilty during her arraignment hearing on Friday to charges of attempting to elude, making false statements to law enforcement and two counts of hit-and-run.

Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brent Basden set a trial date he estimated would take two to three days for Aug. 3. A status hearing is set for July 10.

According to court documents, Gimlin, 27, is alleged to have led police on a 9-mile chase through Port Angeles on May 31 after she was spotted in the Lincoln Park parking lot, where a license plate check revealed an outstanding DUI warrant.

She allegedly gave officers a false name, then fled into oncoming traffic.

The pursuit wound through residential streets at speeds up to 89 mph, with Gimlin allegedly running stop signs and red lights and swerving into oncoming lanes.

Just past Monroe Road, she allegedly struck another vehicle before a blown tire began to slow her down.

She turned onto Cottonwood Lane off U.S. Highway 101 at Morse Creek in an attempt to avoid spike strips but was ultimately stopped with the threat of a stun gun after she tried to flee on foot.

Gimlin remains in the Clallam County jail on a $250,000 bond.

Meanwhile, the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has moved to exclude the findings in a report supporting a diminished capacity defense for Dale Allen Jaff, who is accused of robbing a Kitsap Bank in Sequim on April 9, 2025.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Johnson and Jaff’s attorney, Alex Stalker, agreed to a July 7 hearing to argue the report’s admissibility; a trial date also is scheduled to be set at the hearing.

In the report, Jaff is diagnosed with “Unspecified Mood Disorder with Anxious Distress,” as well as “Cannabis Use Disorder,” “Opioid Use Disorder,” and “History (self-reported) of Port Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

According to the prosecuting attorney’s motion, the report’s findings are “irrelevant” to Jaff’s defense.

Jaff, who remains in the Clallam County Jail on $250,000 bond, is facing charges of first-degree robbery while armed with a deadly weapon, three counts of second-degree assault and second-degree theft.

Additional cases

Joseph Beeman, 47, was unable to make his scheduled court appearance Friday as he was being transported from Western State Hospital in Lakewood, where he has been undergoing a competency evaluation.

Beeman was charged with third-degree assault, obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest for allegedly assaulting an elderly neighbor in the 1300 Block of Laurel Street on March 28. State Sen. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, intervened to shield the neighbor from the attack.

Beeman is scheduled to appear for a hearing on Tuesday.

Separately, Alla Mashkova, accused of participating in a scheme that targeted a 71-year-old Sequim woman that netted $125,000, appeared by video Friday, assisted by an interpreter, and agreed to appear at a June 18 hearing.

Mashkova was arrested and booked into the Clallam County Jail on March 12, 2025, and released March 25 after she posted $50,000 bail.

Pralay Kumar Kar, who was connected to the scam, pleaded guilty on Dec. 11 to four counts of first-degree theft and was sentenced to 12 months and one day in state custody. He was ordered to pay restitution to two victims.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.