Ex-cop pleads guilty to theft, other charges, gets treatment

BREMERTON — A former Bremerton police detective caught on camera stealing cash during a search of a suspected drug dealer’s house pleaded guilty to theft and other charges and was sentenced to inpatient drug treatment.

Jeffery Inklebarger, 52, pleaded guilty to theft, perjury and forgery, The Kitsap Sun reported. Kitsap County Deputy Prosecutor Tim Lewis said Inklebarger was sentenced last week to the treatment program because his crimes were found to have been motivated by a prescription pill addiction.

Inklebarger spent 18 years as a police officer and had been primarily investigating drug crime in February 2019 before the homeowner’s camera recorded him stealing money.

When asked in 2020 about the search by Tacoma police detectives, Inklebarger denied stealing anything. Then detectives showed him the video, they took a break and Inklebarger didn’t return to the interview. He later resigned.

Inklebarger pleaded guilty to forgery when an internal review found that he signed fellow officers’ names on receipts in order to take money used for investigations.

Prosecutors said Inklebarger was treated the same as other non-violent first-time offenders who pleaded guilty and didn’t object to his efforts to receive a sentencing alternative.

Following a three-month treatment plan Inklebarger will be supervised by the state Department of Corrections for two years.

At sentencing, Inklebarger apologized. Also as part of his plea deal, Inklebarger agreed to never seek employment again as a law enforcement officer.