WEST COVINA (CNS) - The Mayor of West Covina is under investigation by the Costa Mesa Police Department after he was found unconscious in a hotel room with controlled substance items nearby, it was reported today.
Police were called to the Holiday Inn Express in the 2000 block of Newport Boulevard shortly after midnight on May 4 and found two people inside the room, including Mayor Mike Spence, Costa Mesa police spokeswoman Roxi Fayad told the Orange County Register.
Neither Spence or the other person in the room were arrested, but Spence was taken to the hospital, Fayad said.
Spence has denied any wrongdoing. He told the paper he thinks the information about him being found unconscious was leaked by a member of the City Council in an effort to harm his political career.
He told the Register he had been taking public transportation to the California Republican Party Convention in San Diego and decided to stay the night of May 4 in Costa Mesa. He said that as he was getting ready to go to the hotel gym after dinner, he became unconscious. When he awoke, he was surrounded by people.
The Register reported Spence said he knows his belongings were searched and he did not want to be taken to the hospital.
The department plans to submit its investigation to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.