Cab Firm Owner Held; May Face Deportation

A Huntington Beach cab company owner whose business is being scrutinized for alleged permit and insurance violations was taken into custody Monday by federal agents and may be deported for immigration violations, according to police.

Seton Montgomerie, a New Zealand native and owner of the California Yellow Taxi Cab Co., was arrested Monday morning at his office after a police investigation of his company found “immigration irregularities,” which were relayed to federal agents, police said.

Officials with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in Santa Ana could not be reached late Monday afternoon for comment regarding Montgomerie’s arrest.

Investigators allege that the company’s fleet has been running without a local business permit, county cab company permits and, in some instances, insurance or vehicle registrations, said Lt. Jon Arnold of the Huntington Beach Police Department.

Scrutiny of Montgomerie’s firm intensified two months ago after a driver with the company killed a popular lifeguard in an early-morning crash July 4 on Pacific Coast Highway.

Police said the driver, Michelle Marchman, was traveling faster than 80 mph in a 50 mph zone just before skidding into A.J. Summers, who was sitting astride his motorcycle at a red light.

Marchman faces a charge of vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, a misdemeanor.

Marchman was among the company’s drivers who were behind the wheel without proper documentation, police said.