Nuclear officials say Conlosh escorted off

Torus Tammer

Less than a week before being removed from the Fountain Valley City

Council last month, former Huntington Beach police officer Chuck Conlosh

attempted to gain access to the San Onofre Nuclear power plant by telling

authorities that he was there working with the FBI, said a Southern

California Edison official this week.

Conlosh, 36, who has been unavailable for comment for several weeks,

forfeited his City Council seat Feb. 20. He also resigned from the

Huntington Beach Police Department in January and checked himself into a

psychiatric hospital. He has since been released.

The former official arrived at the plant just after midnight on

Valentine’s Day and approached security saying that he was working with

the FBI and was at the plant as part of an investigation, said Steve

Conroy, spokesman for Edison, which owns and operates the San Onofre

facility. No charges have been filed against Conlosh.

“Mr. Conlosh attempted to gain access at 12:40 a.m. on Feb. 14 through

our security administration building and was denied access and escorted

back to his vehicle by security,” Conroy said. “When asked what he was

doing at the plant, Mr. Conlosh told security that he was working with

the FBI and was there to investigate personnel complaints he had been

given. We then asked him to produce identification and called the FBI in

San Diego to report the incident.”

Conroy said the situation was reported as part of protocol because

Conlosh did not have proper clearance and was considered to be

trespassing on land governed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

San Diego FBI special agent Jan Caldwell remained tight-lipped about

the incident, but stated that any person who misrepresents a relationship

with the FBI is subject to very strict penalties.

“Any comment regarding this matter would have to come from Edison or

San Onofre,” she said.

“In order to gain access to a secured area or any area, anyone, even

me, would have to get special clearance beforehand,” Conroy said.

Brad Gage, Conlosh’s attorney, was not able to shed any light on the

alleged incident but said he would investigate the matter further.

“This issue should be totally separate from the issue surrounding a

potential lawsuit between Chuck and either his doctor or the cities

[Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley], but of course, as a prudent

lawyer, I will now investigate the claims,” he said.

Conlosh forfeited his second council term last month by failing to

appear at meetings for 60 consecutive days without requesting permission

for his absence which, by state law, rendered his seat vacant.

Last year, Conlosh made headlines by accusing “high city officials of

wrongdoings” and refusing to stop placing his loaded service revolver on

the dais during council meetings.