GPS tracking devices are readily obtainable. The legality of their use on unauthorized vehicles is questionable at best. The story below highlights that such devices can pose a significant threat to privacy and security.
Orange County Register: Two private investigators accused of illegally tracking and harassing a pair of Costa Mesa councilmen have been ordered to stay away from the politicians, but a judge on Thursday declined to immediately approve a state request to take away their work and weapons permits.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Macias issued a restraining order against Christopher Joseph Lanzillo on Thursday, several weeks after a similar order was issued against Scott Alan Impola.
As part of the order, Lanzillo and Impola must stay away from Costa Mesa Mayor Steven Mensinger and Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer – whom the two men are accused of targeting prior to a recent election – and to avoid Skosh Monahan’s, a local bar.
Christopher Joseph Lanzillo, Private Investigator.
The judge decided against ruling on a request by the California Attorney General’s office to take away Lanzillo and Impola’s PI licenses, security licenses and weapons licenses as they pertained to their jobs. A hearing focused on that request is expected to take place Feb. 6.
Prosecutors say Lanzillo and Impola used a GPS tracking device to keep tabs on one councilman, as well as phoning in a false DUI report about the other politician.
Impola, 46, and Lanzillo, 45, are both former Riverside law enforcement officers who prosecutors say were hired by the Costa Mesa Police Association to dig up dirt on Mensinger and Righeimer. Both politicians are outspoken critics of public unions and proponents of outsourcing many city services, and had approved budgets that cut police expenditures and restructured the department.
The law firm – Lackie, Dammeier, McGill and Ethir – denied involvement in the reported tracking and harassment. The firm had come under fire after publicly bragging about using hardball tactics to coerce elected officials, as well as being accused of bilking a police defense fund.
Common GPS tracking device in weatherproof housing with battery pack.
Mounting GPS tracking device under vehicle.
[Read more: Background story from November, 2014:]
A law enforcement investigation into tactics used by the now defunct Lackie, Dammeier, McGill & Ethir law firm – accused of strong-arming cities throughout California – has taken a troubling turn into whether municipal lawmakers were tracked with GPS devices on behalf of police unions.
Computerized data obtained by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI show that a GPS device was placed on an SUV driven by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger (right) for more than a month while he sought re-election in 2012, according to interviews and records.
A lawsuit by Mensinger and Mayor Jim Righeimer against the Upland law firm, the Costa Mesa Police Association and private investigatorChris Lanzillo was amended Wednesday to include the allegation that a tracking device was installed on the undercarriage of Mensinger’s vehicle while it was parked in his Costa Mesa driveway.
The device was installed and removed repeatedly to recharge it and download the data, which tracked places Mensinger had visited, according to the lawsuit.