Suspected luxury car thief arrested; fraud operation uncovered

Detectives searching for a luxury car thief found their suspect, a missing Porsche and an enormous identity fraud operation in Studio City last week, authorities said.

Investigators from a county auto theft task force had been searching for Foley Andrew Parker III since December 2011, when he was accused of stealing a Porsche Panamera from a Los Angeles leasing company.

They tracked him to a Studio City residence Wednesday and during the execution of a search warrant, discovered the missing car in the garage and evidence of a “massive” credit card fraud operation in the residence, according to a Sheriff’s Department press release.

[Updated, 6:20 p.m.: Detectives seized about 6,000 blank credit cards as well as counterfeit driver’s licenses and card manufacturing machines. With blank cards worth approximately $500 in fraudulent charges, investigators estimate potential loss to card companies approaching $3 million.

Parker, 36, was with his wife in the delivery ward of a local hospital when the search began, Lt. Jeff Enfield said. “After the birth, he came home and our deputies made contact with him,” Enfield said. His wife is also under investigation, he said.

Parker was released early Thursday morning in lieu of $106,000.]

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