Former mayor’s taxi service in serious car crash

Calexico Police are investigating a recent serious car accident involving former city mayor Luis Castro’s Centinela Cab taxi service.

Detective Armando Orozco said both vehicles were badly damaged. The taxi driver had to be rescued using the Jaws of Life.

Police said Castro’s taxi didn’t have the required permits or insurance to operate within city limits, but the accident happened on Highway 98 and Bowker Road – outside city limits.

The case is still being investigated. We still need to re-contact all parties involved. The report will be finished and the investigation will be forwarded to the district attorney’s office for review,” Orozco said.

Abelardo Perez, owner of L&A Shuttle explained that permits, inspections and insurance are for the safety of the passengers.

“Us, as a bus company, we have to have a minimum requirement of a five million dollar liability. Just our liability, the minimum is five million dollar on each bus,” Perez said.

We showed Perez pictures we received anonymously that allegedly show Castro’s bus lines using rotating license plates. Perez said that was dangerous because it would leave the passengers without insurance coverage in case of an accident.

We turned those pictures over to Calexico Police for investigation.

We reached out to Centinela Cab owner Luis Castro for comment on the rotating license plates allegation and the injured taxi driver’s condition, but he was not available for comment.