First in a series

It is not a stretch to say a modern-day Sherlock Holmes works in Kitsap County, and his mission is to put a dent in the number of car thefts.

He may not puff on a curved pipe or have a sidekick named Watson, but Bremerton Police Department’s Sgt. Jason Vertefeuille thrives on putting prolific car thieves, some who steal over 100 vehicles, behind bars.

Vertefeuille, a 29-year BPD veteran, compiles details of all car thefts around the county and disseminates the information in a monthly report to police departments in Bainbridge Island, Port Orchard, Poulsbo and the sheriff’s office. His report also includes a “Top Ten” list of the most-active car thieves and outlines trends on how the bad guys operate. Cops who patrol the streets from Hansville to Burley and Seabeck to Kingston review the reports.

“I’m looking for where the theft occurred, the date, type of vehicle and any suspect information. If the vehicle is found, I put the date and location that it was recovered. Everything is put into a spreadsheet,” he explained.

Vertefeuille is like a clearinghouse for car thefts. “Most officers are often so busy they can only focus on their one case. But, because I am reading all the reports, I can look at the problem from a countywide perspective and see trends – what neighborhoods are being hit hardest or locations where car thefts are often being recovered. Also, I can see when the same names of suspects start popping up over and over again.”

He also notices if culprits prefer to hit particular areas, such as store parking lots or apartment complexes. Recently, Bremerton had thefts taking place in parking garages where people would put their cars and go to work in Seattle or the shipyard.

Officers around Kitsap County give kudos to Vertefeuille’s gumshoe work.

“I’m looking at his latest report (of stolen vehicles). There are seven or eight motorcycles listed on there, which I’ve never seen before. This makes us aware to pay attention when we see motorcycles and start running (their license plates) to see if they are stolen,” said police Sgt. Donna Main of Port Orchard’s department.

She’s glad he keeps track of the main offenders. “We don’t keep track of where everybody’s at all the time. Sometimes these people are in jail or prison and then they’re out again. If we know someone is back on the street we can keep an eye out for them.”

Poulsbo Police Department’s Sgt Luke Bogues looks forward to Vertefeuille’s reports. “Having his data to see the trends and patterns of where (car thieves) are operating gives us a better chance of trying to catch them. It makes for more-effective law enforcement.”

Detective Dave Meyer of the sheriff’s department said all law enforcement would like to do the work that Vertefeuille does but staff is limited. “Sergeant Vertefeuille is doing essential police work that often gets overlooked or ignored when budgets are stretched thin and resources are scarce. It’s extremely time-consuming to read through all the police reports countywide and compile data necessary to identify these trends,” Meyer said.

“I wouldn’t necessarily know what’s going on in other jurisdictions, like Poulsbo and Port Orchard. As a direct consequence of the sergeant’s work we are seeing a decrease in vehicle theft cases throughout the county,” he added.

Some car thefts are done by people who on a lark go for a joyride then abandon the car. But the vast majority are committed by a small group who repeatedly steal cars, Vertefeuille said. Last year, for example, police put away one thief who committed 120 auto thefts. Other times, authorities have nabbed people associated with 50-70 thefts, Vertefeuille said. In the last two years, about 15 prolific car thefts have been arrested across the county. Taking even one habitual offender off the street dramatically impacts car theft numbers, he reported.

“When they are finally arrested, I will see a sudden drop in the number of vehicles that are being stolen. The guy with the 120 thefts really liked Hondas. Once he was arrested, where we had been seeing Hondas stolen every day, the daily theft of Hondas stopped as soon as he was put into custody,” Vertefeuille said. “When I started (doing my reports) we were getting up to 7-8 cars a day stolen in the county. Right now, we’re down to about 1.5 cars stolen a day.”

There has been a steady reduction of vehicle thefts in recent years, Vertefeuille’s numbers say. In 2022, 1,798 vehicles had been stolen or recovered in the county, representing nearly five a day. In 2023, there were 1,286, or about 3.5 a day. As of mid-November this year, the number dropped to 476, representing 1.4 a day.

Vertefeuille’s work seems to drive home the point that cooperation between police departments goes a long way toward tamping down a crime that is frustrating to victims. As detective Sherlock Holmes might observe, “It’s elementary my dear Watson.”