FORKS — A woman who allegedly threatened to infect a store clerk with AIDS while attempting to rob the Forks 76 gas station pleaded not guilty Thursday to separate counts of robbery and attempted robbery.
Bail of $35,000 on the charges was set in Clallam County Superior Court for Jennifer Sue Holmes, 33, of Forks, whose next court appearance is set on Aug. 26 for a status hearing.
Holmes was arrested without incident at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at a Forks residence.
Police said she also robbed the La Michoacana grocery store Tuesday at gunpoint and took $300.
The owner of the grocery store described the robber to a neighboring business owner who said the description matched that of a woman who was in her own store and provided the police with video surveillance footage.
Police traced Holmes to the residence after receiving information that her boyfriend was seen walking to it.
The charges stem from incidents early Sunday morning and early Tuesday evening that are described in a Forks Police Department report authored by Officer Michael Gentry.
Holmes matched the descriptions that police were given of the perpetrator in each of the incidents and admitted to committing the crimes, according to the report.
In the first incident, police were dispatched to the Evergreen 76 gas station at 490 N. Forks Ave. at 4 a.m. Sunday after a woman walked into the convenience store holding a hypodermic needle.
“She threatened to stick the employee with a hypodermic needle infected with AIDS,” and demanded money from the till, Gentry said in the report.
Holmes told police the male clerk told her to “get out and get,” without giving her anything, according to the report.
Holmes told police that she robbed the La Michoacana grocery store, 21 S. Spartan Ave., at about 7:10 p.m. Tuesday “to get money for drugs,” according to the report.
She entered the store and “held what was described as a black pistol to the store employee,” threatening to shoot the employee if she did not give Holmes money from the cash register, according to the police report.
Holmes left with about $300, telling police later that the gun “wasn’t a real gun and stated she hid it in the woods.”
Holmes led police to a trail in Forks where she identified a bag she said contained clothing she wore in the robbery and a pellet or BB gun that Gentry said looked like a Beretta-style semi-automatic pistol and included a removable magazine.
It would have seemed functional to anyone threatened with it, he said.
Holmes told police she decided to rob the La Michoacana because “a lady was easier to rob,” according to Gentry’s report.
