  We study the interplay between topological observables and chiral and Higgs
transitions in lattice scalar QED with quenched fermions. Emphasis is put on
the chiral transition line and magnetic monopole percolation at strong gauge
coupling. We confirm that at infinite gauge coupling the chiral transition is
described by mean field exponents. We find a rich and complicated behaviour at
the endpoint of the Higgs transition line which hampers a satisfactory analysis
of the chiral transition. We study in detail an intermediate coupling, where
the data are consistent both with a trivial chiral transition clearly separated
from monopole percolation and with a chiral transition coincident with monopole
percolation, and characterized by the same critical exponent $\nu \simeq 0.65$.
We discuss the relevance (or lack thereof) of these quenched results to our
understanding of the \chupiv\ model. We comment on the interplay of magnetic
monopoles and fermion dynamics in more general contexts.
