When prosecutors filed documents, two years ago, investigating Chris Lanzillo for "conspiracy to file a false police report"
everybody assumed there was a lot more to it.
Lanzillo, a Menifee-based private investigator and ex-cop, is just the tip of the iceberg.
In addition to the August 29 search on Lanzillo's residence, there was a Sept. 14 search on the Canyon Lake home of a private investigator who works for him, Scott Impola, and a third search warrant for the cell phone records of their sometimes-boss, attorney Dieter Dammeier.
This was all the result of the detainment of Councilman Jim Righeimer, during a
particularly acrimonious time between the police union and Righeimer.
Righeimer left a council meeting and met with Monahan at the latter’s restaurant and bar, drank a couple diet sodas and left. Righeimer got home and went inside his house — but soon had police knocking on his door, asking him to step outside for a DUI test. He was detained for a while, but wasn’t drunk.
[...]
The two men tracked Righeimer to the bar and then Lanzillo is accused of calling 911 and reporting that a man stumbled out of the bar and was possibly drunk — and gave a description of Righeimer’s car. It seemed like a set up designed to destroy his political career. The episode so outraged Righeimer and Mensinger that they filed a civil lawsuit against the union, law firm (Lackie, Dammeier, McGill & Ethir of Upland) and Lanzillo.
Last Thursday, Lanzillo and Impola were arrested.
Between June 21, 2012, and July 12, 2012, Lanzillo and Impola are accused of conspiring together to place a GPS tracking device on the vehicle of an attorney at a law firm that was a competitor to the LDME firm without the victim’s knowledge or permission. Lanzillo and Impola are accused of using the GPS device to illegally track the location information of the victim.
It's a classic corruption case on the face of it. However, this case may very be one small example of illegal overreach, sanctioned by police unions in any number of municipalities. I am pro-union in all circumstances. I am not pro-corruption. The people sanctioning this type of behavior aren't representing police as much as they are representing themselves.