PORT ANGELES — A trial for a Port Hadlock man charged with robbing Sequim’s Kitsap Bank is set to begin in July.
Dale Allen Jaff, 57, pleaded not guilty to the robbery through appointed defense attorney Alex Stalker at an arraignment hearing May 16 in Clallam County Superior Court.
Jaff faces charges of first-degree robbery, second-degree theft and second-degree assault, all felonies.
He faces up to life in prison and a $50,000 fine for the robbery, up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for the theft, and up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for the assault.
Judge Brent Basden set the six-day trial to tentatively begin on July 7 with a status hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. June 13.
Sequim Police officers arrested Jaff at his home early in the morning on May 9 after using video surveillance and body cam footage to match him and his white 2010 white Chevrolet Silverado to the April 9 robbery at 1320 W. Washington St.
Jaff was arrested one month after he allegedly dressed in black clothing, with a blue surgical mask and sunglasses, and went into the bank about 3:30 p.m. April 9 and demanded money from a teller, according to court documents.
Det. Sgt. Darrell Nelson of the Sequim Police Department wrote in his incident report that a teller asked the robber to remove his hood and sunglasses for the security camera and he refused.
The robber then presented a note to the teller and showed a BB gun and stun gun to her.
The note stated:
“READ VERY CAREFULLY!!
YOU HAVE 90 SECONDS TO
PUT ALL OF THE MONEY
FROM ALL OF THE DRAWERS
INTO THE BAG!!
NO DYEPACKS
NO TRACKERS
NO SILENT ALARMS
STAY CALM AND MOVE QUICKLY
AND NOBODY GETS HURT!!
THE CLOCK IS TICKING!!!”
Police report that the robber handed the teller the note and then demanded she “Give me all the money out of the drawer — second drawer, too. No dye packs.”
He then gave her a black bag to use.
Before filling the bag with money, she hit the panic alarm, according to court documents.
The robber took somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000 and was in the bank about one minute and 11 seconds, Nelson reported.
Once the robber got the money, Nelson reported that the robber pointed a can of Oleoresin capsicum (bear defense spray) at the teller, who dropped to the ground fearing it was a gun, and he began spraying toward her and around him in many directions for about 20 seconds.
He then left and drove away.
Staff were bothered by the spray, police report, but there were no injuries during the robbery.
The Sequim Police Department, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office deputies and a Port Angeles Police Department canine officer searched the area, but were unable to find a suspect that day.
Clallam County Fire District 3 staff used a fan to air out the bank.
Kitsap Bank officials closed the bank on April 10, offered counseling to staff and reopened the branch April 11.
Still images and a description of the robber were released by police on April 10.
Using an anonymous tip naming Jaff, and search warrants for video surveillance footage from the area, police report they connected Jaff to the robbery via video time stamps and identifiable stickers on his truck and its canopy seen driving by the bank and on U.S. Highway 101.
Video of Jaff at 7 Cedars Casino in his truck and wearing a similar hoodie from the robbery identified him on April 17, court documents state.
Nelson reported that they also matched him with his truck via body cam footage from a March 28 traffic stop by the Port Townsend Police Department.
After Jaff’s arrest, Nelson reported that Jaff admitted to robbing the bank because he was behind on rent and going to be homeless if he did not pay back rent.
According to court documents, Jaff also told police he conducted reconnaissance at the bank a few days prior, owned the BB gun and stun gun presented at the bank, and sprayed bear spray to keep bank employees away from the windows so they would not see him walk to his truck.
Through a search warrant, police obtained from Jaff’s residence a BB gun, stun gun, bear defense spray, black fabric shopping bag and similar clothing used in the robbery, as well as several copies of demand letters similar to the one recovered from the bank.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
