Sister of Fugitive Operator of Tustin Clinic Is Arrested

Police hunting for the fugitive operator of a back-room medical clinic in Tustin arrested the woman’s sister Wednesday and continued their efforts to learn the whereabouts of Laura Escalante, who is wanted on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Tustin investigators arrested Rosa King, 37, at her Irvine home about 10:30 a.m., said Sgt. Bill Fisher. King had been sought by authorities since she failed to pay a $4,500 court fine levied last year after she was convicted of selling misbranded drugs in Santa Ana, said Santa Ana Police Sgt. Raul Luna.

Police contend that King’s sister, Escalante, supervised an injection of drugs into 18-month-old Selene Segura Rios just hours before the toddler died. Escalante, known to clinic customers as “Dr. Laura,” has been on the run since the child’s death in February, police said.

Police and prosecutors allege that Escalante is responsible for the child’s death because she falsely told customers she was a qualified medical practitioner--which allegedly deterred Selene’s parents from seeking treatment elsewhere.

Investigators believe Escalante has fled to Mexico. They intend to interrogate King about where her sister may be hiding, Fisher said.

“We’ve been trying to run down every lead on Laura,” he said.

Other members of King’s family are the subject of legal scrutiny.

According to officials, a federal grand jury in San Diego is probing allegations that Mexican pharmaceuticals may have been smuggled across the border from Tijuana by Escalante, King and other family members.

Santa Ana police are investigating whether family members supplied drugs injected into a 13-month-old boy just before he died last year. Investigators, however, have no evidence that the King family was the source of the drugs, said Santa Ana Police Capt. Dan McCoy.