SOUTH-CENTRAL : Charges Filed Over Spilled Car Oil

The city attorney’s office has filed criminal charges against a South-Central man accused of illegally dumping oil and waste matter.

Luis Castro, 26, is accused of flushing automobile fluid down a storm drain after transmission fluid spilled while he was working on a car in Wilmington, according to the city attorney’s office.

Castro, who was to be arraigned Tuesday, failed to appear in Los Angeles Municipal Court. If convicted, he faces up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine for illegally dumping oil and up to one year in jail and/or a $10,000 fine for dumping a hazardous substance on a public street.

“He was in the middle of working on the car when a police officer from the city saw a streak of red transmission fluid, and they interviewed him and he didn’t realize it was against the law,” said Vincent Sato, the deputy city attorney handling the case. “It’s a problem because once it hits the storm drain, it goes straight to Santa Monica Bay or the harbor. That’s why we’re trying to regulate this type of activity.”