SLO County declines to file charges against Lompoc fire chief

Prosecutors in San Luis Obispo County have declined to file charges against the Lompoc fire chief accused of domestic violence in Cambria.

A spokesman for the District Attorney's Office said that officials in San Luis Obispo County decided on Tuesday not to file criminal charges against Lompoc Fire Department chief Alicia Welch after an alleged domestic violence incident in Cambria last month.

A spokeswoman for the city of Lompoc, Samantha Scroggin, said that Welch, who is 55 years old, made it official on Tuesday that she will retire on July 20.

Records show that Welch was taken to the San Luis Obispo County Jail at 11:42 p.m. on May 29. The sheriff's dispatch logs show that deputies went to the 7200 block of Moonstone Drive to check on a report of abuse. Logs show that this was the only call about domestic violence in Cambria on that Saturday.

Eric Dobroth, a deputy district attorney, said there wasn't enough proof to charge Welch with a crime.

A spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office said Thursday that there wasn't enough evidence to charge a Lompoc Police officer who was arrested in April on suspicion of domestic violence charges.