Authorities Seek Cause of Santa Ana Man’s Death After Arrest in Fraud Case

Authorities Friday were seeking the cause of the death of a 55-year-old Santa Ana man an hour after police arrested him in connection with an alleged $1-million land fraud scheme.

Frank L. Parker was arrested Thursday at a friend’s home in Tustin on suspicion of forgery and grand theft, said Lt. Mike Mitchell, Santa Ana police watch commander.

On the way to the Santa Ana police station, Parker began to complain to an investigator of illness and “upon arrival at the station . . . the investigator saw that Parker looked visibly weak and somewhat ill,” Mitchell said.

Police Investigator Ken Smith, who had arrested Parker on a warrant, called paramedics. Parker died shortly after 5 p.m. at Western Medical Center.

A spokesman for the Orange County coroner’s office declined to comment on the case, referring all questions to the Santa Ana Police Department.

“The autopsy has been inconclusive so far, and they’re still doing some more tests” said Santa Ana Police Lt. Robert Chavez.

Parker was “totally cooperative” and his body showed no signs of trauma, Chavez said. “It appears he just had a heart attack.”

The investigation that led to Parker’s arrest began two months ago in Arcadia.

“A local businessman brought to our attention what appeared to be a land fraud. . . . Our investigators began looking into the matter,” Arcadia Police Capt. Dave Hinig said.

The investigation, he said, uncovered about 107 investors--from Temple City and Pasadena to New Mexico, New Jersey and Florida--who may have been “defrauded in a similar manner.”

“The scheme used forged or fictitious documents to convince people that a sale was occurring when, in fact, it was not,” he said.

Police searched Parker’s Santa Ana home July 15 and found “several documents supporting our belief that he was involved in these fraudulent land deals,” Hinig said. “Based upon that information, we obtained a warrant for his arrest.”

Arcadia police will continue the investigation, Hinig said, but with the suspect’s death, “it would appear we don’t have too many avenues to follow at this point.” In the last month or so, “the police have been here a hundred times for Mr. Parker,” said one of his Santa Ana neighbors, who asked not to be named.

Nearby residents on North Linwood Avenue knew little about his business--except that he was involved in real estate, the neighbor said. Parker was divorced, she said, and had a son, about 11.