The Washington State Patrol has referred first-degree theft and identity theft charges against Jennifer Teitzel, the former manager of the Lewis County Animal Shelter, to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office after an investigation determined Teitzel stole over $10,000 from the Lewis County Corrections Bureau while she was employed there between 2019 and 2020.
The investigation began when support staff with Lewis County Corrections noticed “suspicious transactions” in the bureau’s inmate program fund, according to Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Field Operations Chief Dusty Breen.
The fund contains revenue generated from the jail’s commissary and other inmate-related services, according to Breen. Money from the fund often goes back into the jail.
When an initial internal review revealed the transactions were “fraudulent in nature,” the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office asked the Washington State Patrol to launch an independent investigation on June 9, 2022, Breen said.
The Washington State Patrol’s investigation, which included a recommendation for criminal charges, reportedly concluded this week. The charges were referred to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, March 8.
The Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office will now review the investigation results and make a charging decision.
Charges against Teitzel, 52, of Chehalis, had not been filed in Lewis County Superior Court as of Thursday afternoon.
Teitzel worked as a support staff technician in the Lewis County Corrections Bureau up until August 2020, when the county hired Teitzel as the director of the Lewis County Animal Shelter.
Lewis County terminated Teitzel from her position with the Lewis County Animal Shelter in February 2022.
When asked by The Chronicle about what led to Teitzel’s departure, then-Lewis County Public Health & Social Services Director JP Anderson said, “We just decided to go in a different direction,” according to previous Chronicle reporting.
Teitzel’s work with the shelter was placed under scrutiny last June after four former employees alleged she misappropriated donations, asked staff to falsify medical records, created a hostile work environment and put animals and the public in danger.
A lawsuit filed by those four former employees in October 2021 seeking $2.1 million in damages from Teitzel and Lewis County is ongoing.
