Attorney general wants licenses suspended for PIs in Costa Mesa surveillance case
Two private investigators accused of conducting surveillance on and trying to embarrass two Costa Mesa City Council members in the run-up to the 2012 local election may be barred from working in their field while they await trial, if the California attorney general’s office gets its way.
The investigators, Chris Lanzillo and Scott Impola, appeared in Orange County Superior Court on Thursday but delayed entering pleas on charges of felony conspiracy and false imprisonment.
Prosecutors allege Lanzillo and Impola were hired by Costa Mesa’s police union to dig up dirt on political opponents. The Costa Mesa Police Assn. has denied its members knew of any unlawful activity until after the fact and said it fired the law firm the two investigators worked for.
Lanzillo and Impola are free on $25,000 bond each. But California’s top prosecutor has asked that as a condition of their bail, an Orange County judge suspend their state licenses to work in the private security industry and to carry firearms and batons on the job.
“Defendants’ conduct violated the public trust, which is essential to the private security and investigation industry,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a court document supporting the request. “Their actions undermine the public confidence and respect for their industry.”
According to prosecutors, Lanzillo and Impola used a GPS device to track Councilman Steve Mensinger and called in a false report of driving under the influence about Councilman Jim Righeimer.
A Costa Mesa police officer responded to Righeimer’s home after the call and administered a sobriety test, clearing the councilman of any impairment but sparking the false-imprisonment charge against the private investigators, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.
“Their false imprisonment of another person reflects a blatant violation of that person’s personal liberty,” the attorney general office’s filing states. “Their choice to place a GPS device on someone’s vehicle reflects a deliberate invasion of privacy. In short, one who commits such acts cannot be trusted to do business with unsuspecting consumers.”
Lanzillo has a private investigator’s license, and Impola is licensed to operate a private security patrol, according to online records.
Deputy Attorney General Adrian Contreras said the requested suspensions wouldn’t affect any local permits that Lanzillo or Impola may have to carry weapons.
Lawyers for the defendants have opposed the suspension request.
“Lanzillo is not a danger to anybody,” said Nancy Kardon, one of his attorneys.
Impola’s lawyer, David Vaughn, argued in court papers that the charges against his client involve nonviolent conduct and could have been charged as misdemeanors instead of felonies.
A hearing on the license suspension request is scheduled for Feb. 6. The defendants’ arraignment was rescheduled for that date.
Superior Court judges have authorized restraining orders on Lanzillo and Impola. Both are barred from contacting Righeimer and Mensinger or visiting Skosh Monahan’s, a restaurant owned by Councilman Gary Monahan where the private investigators allegedly began tailing the politicians.