Vashon man released, felony drug case pending

Published 9:30 am Thursday, February 5, 2026

The Vashon man accused of selling fentanyl and methamphetamine to island residents was released from jail last Tuesday, but his case remains pending after prosecutors filed two felony drug-dealing charges Wednesday Feb. 4, court documents show.

Gabriel Timmen, 46, was released at 6:05 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, according to jail records. He was booked Jan. 30.

King County prosecutors on Wednesday filed two counts under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act — delivery and possession with intent to deliver — stemming from controlled buys in late January, according to charging documents.

At Timmen’s second court appearance Tuesday Feb. 3, the investigation was still ongoing and prosecutors did not yet have the information needed to file charges by the deadline required to keep him in custody, according to Douglas Wagoner from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors later obtained that information and filed the felony counts Wednesday, Wagoner said.

Timmen’s arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 18.

Wagoner said prosecutors plan to object if Timmen seeks to enter King County Drug Court, arguing the case should proceed through the traditional court process.

While the case is technically eligible for Drug Court based on Timmen’s criminal history and the amounts of drugs involved, prosecutors can object based on additional information provided by law enforcement, he said.

Ultimately, the court will decide whether the case proceeds through Drug Court, he said.

Wagoner said prosecutors have also requested multiple conditions of release, including that Timmen report any change of mailing address to the court within one business day, commit no new criminal violations and not use or possess alcohol or nonprescribed drugs or controlled substances.

Deputies conducted two controlled buys on Jan. 22 using a transactional informant wearing a wire, according to a probable cause statement.

On Jan. 21, the police informant paid Timmen with sheriff’s office buy funds at an accessory dwelling unit in the 9300 block of Southwest Gorsuch Road, but Timmen said he did not have the drugs on hand and told the police informant to return the next day.

On Jan. 22, the officer returned and received about 2.5 grams of fentanyl, police documents said.

Later that same day, deputies conducted a second controlled buy and the police informant received about 1.3 grams of fentanyl.

The suspected fentanyl from both buys tested positive using a TruNarc detection device, documents said.

Timmen made his first court appearance Monday Feb. 2, days after deputies served a narcotics search warrant at an accessory dwelling unit near uptown Vashon, according to police documents. A judge found probable cause on the allegation and set bail at $25,000, court records show.

In a police interview, Timmen told detectives he had sold narcotics to at least six people on Vashon and said he frequently obtained drugs in Seattle, according to police documents.

King County records show at least eight people on Vashon have died since 2020 with fentanyl listed as a contributing factor. The records, however, do not provide a definitive count of fentanyl-related deaths on the island.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office regularly files felony drug-dealing cases when evidence supports doing so, Wagoner said. In 2025, the office filed 281 such cases, the vast majority involving fentanyl and methamphetamine, he said.

Read more about this incident at tinyurl.com/bdza336p.

Editor’s Note: The King County Sheriff’s Office told The Beachcomber on Friday, Jan. 30, that a second person had been booked on suspicion of unlawful use of a building for drug purposes. The agency later said that information was incorrect.