ANTELOPE VALLEY : Spillane to Head D. A.’s Office

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti has appointed John Spillane, who now serves as the No. 2 prosecutor in the unit that investigates misconduct by public officials, to run the district attorney’s Antelope Valley office starting Jan. 4.

Spillane, a 13-year prosecutor and the assistant head deputy in the office’s special investigations division since June, 1991, will replace Stephen Cooley.

Cooley, the Antelope Valley’s head deputy for the past eight years, is being transferred to run the larger San Fernando branch office.

“I’m packing my bags,” said Spillane, a 39-year-old Valencia resident who will serve as acting head deputy in the Antelope Valley.

Spillane previously headed the district attorney’s Eastlake juvenile office and was a trial deputy in the San Fernando and Van Nuys courts, spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.