State regulators have ordered Five Star Limousine to shut down limousine and charter bus operations in Washington and to pay a $2,000 fine for operating without a valid Washington operating permit.
The fine and service ban were announced Thursday by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.
Five Star, which had been based in Portland but now appears to be out of operation, was implicated in the Sept. 29, 2012, death of 11-year-old Angie Hernandez of Milwaukie, Ore., the utilities and transportation commission noted in a news release. The girl fell out of the window of a bus operated by Five Star in downtown Portland when an emergency window allegedly popped open. The Federal Motor Carrier Administration, which regulates interstate commercial vehicles, ordered Five Star to cease operations in December.
Dave Pratt, assistant director of transportation safety for the state utilities and transportation commission, said the Portland accident brought the company to the state’s attention. The commission’s action was based on two charter trips last June and July in Clark County.
