WAS CC ADMIN. GARCIA ON HIS CELL WHEN HE CRASHED?

By Juan Montoya
Motorists who were southbound on US 77-83 (I-69) at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday noticed a small pickup truck with its emergency lights blinking parked on the shoulder near the off ramp to Boca Chica Boulevard.
Most drove to the around it to avoid the vehicle.
One man said that for the most part, motorists could see the truck plainly since it was a clear morning and the traffic was not that heavy then.

"The visibility was good when I passed," he said. "The truck was partially on the road and on the shoulder because the ramp was just starting. It had a big (Dallas) Cowboys star on the side."
One person who apparently did not see the stricken vehicle or its driver standing to the side was newly-named Cameron County Administrator David Garcia. He crashed into the truck with such force that it bent the chassis and left a sag between the cab and the pickup bed. The effects of the impact caused his large county truck to flip over on its top and slide down the center lane of the highway.
Accounts from people who saw the aftermath of the crash say there were pieces of both trucks scattered all over the lanes. Garcia, miraculously, was able to walk away from the truck and can be seen in videos and still photos taken by passing motorists on their cell phones as he speaks into his own cell phone.
Could it be that Garcia did not see the stricken pickup until he was upon it because he was either speaking or texting on his cell phone at the time?
Investigators could find out soon enough if they ascertain the time of the accident (between 7:20 and 7:30 a.m.) and check the phone records of Garcia's cell phone (956) 574-8771.  None other than Erasmo Castro posted a photo at 8:22 a.m. posted by Claudia Ledezma 55 minutes before (7:27 a.m.) which showed the immediate aftermath of the mishap.
Now, we understand that after the accident, Garcia had refused medical treatment and can be seen in the top photo standing at the front of the pickup truck. Later, during the say, we are told that he began complaining of pain in his back.
According to the county policy, all employees involved in a vehicle accident must accompany the safety officer and take a drug test (urinalysis, blood, etc.) within two hours of the accident. According to our sources, instead of accompanying the officer, Garcia asked what clinic the county had hired and declined to be accompanied by anyone.
There are other troubling aspects to this accident which left the county vehicle totaled. In the minutes of the October 13, 2011 meeting, then County Supervisor (now county judge) Pete Sepulveda addressed the subject of county vehicle use by employees and stated that all Bridge System employees were parking their county vehicles. In the discussion at that meeting, Pct. 1 commissioner Sofia Benavides that commissioners keep in  mind that some employees need use of the county vehicle during emergency situations.
Then-commissioner Ernie Hernandez said that supervisors in the four precincts in Public Works be allowed to take their vehicles home.
So, was Garcia in an emergency? Was he a precinct Public Works supervisor? And, was his use of the county vehicle authorized by his immediate superior (the county commissioners or county judge)?
And if county policy dealing with the drug testing and vehicle use by employees not followed, why not? Does his position make him exempt from the ruels that apply to everyone else?
Garcia is making $185,000 a year to work for the residents of this county. He is, we believe, expected to set an example for the rest of the county employees, is he not?