On Friday, June 17, 2011, Detectives from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and Port Townsend Police, working in conjunction with the Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office, brought an end a crime spree that lasted nine months and entailed eighteen serious felonies.

Starting in July of last year four vehicles were stolen in Port Townsend.  Days after their disappearance, three of the vehicles were recovered in the area around the Port Townsend Paper Mill.  Each of the vehicles had been stripped of parts; one had been repainted.

On August 24, 2010, after a thorough and time consuming investigation, law enforcement officers from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, OPNET (Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team), and the Port Townsend Police, served a search warrant on 291 Stevens Avenue in Port Townsend.  During the search, law enforcement officers found parts from the stolen vehicles as well as other evidence.  At the scene, Camron Louis Jevne was later arrested after confessing that he had stolen three of the vehicles.

Shortly after his arrest Mr. Jevne was released on bail.  While he was awaiting trial he stole two jet skis, an ATV, and two electric handicap scooters.  After his arrest for the scooter theft, Mr. Jevne was held on $100,000 bail, but even this did not stop him from committing even more offenses.  While in the Jefferson County Jail, Mr. Jevne attempted to orchestrate the theft of two additional ATVs, a golf cart, and pickup truck.  He also attempted to sell some of the property that he had previously stolen.

Mr. Jevne was prevented from stealing any more property by the Sheriff’s Office, and most of the property he had already stolen was eventually recovered.  Due to all of the thefts and the attempts at selling the stolen property Mr. Jevne faced the prospect of being charged with eighteen felonies.  On Friday, Mr. Jevne pled guilty to eight felonies and Judge Craddock Verser sentenced him to 50 months in prison and 50 months of probation.  In addition to the 50 months in prison, Mr. Jevne is required to complete drug treatment.

            These convictions were in large part possible due to the efforts of Sheriff’s Detective Brett Anglin and Deputy Prosecutor Chris Ashcraft, both of whom are working on an American Recovery Act grant which expires in October of this year.  Currently, there are no funds in the county budget to fund these positions after the grant expires.  Both Sheriff Hernandez and Prosecutor Rosekrans are concerned that without funds for these positions, these types of investigations will not be possible in the future.

            Sheriff Hernandez is concerned that these complex, labor intensive investigations may no longer be possible without securing additional funding in 2012. With the current minimum staffing levels in the patrol and in the detective division, and with steadily increasing calls for service, current staffing cannot continue to keep up with increasing 911 calls for service and still devote manpower to lengthy criminal investigations without securing the additional grant funding.