Published: October 19, 2023, 5:57 PM
PORT ORANGE, Fla. – A man once called a hometown hero in Volusia County is now facing several felony charges. Port Orange investigators said they arrested Steven Parker on Wednesday for impersonating a contractor after he was hired by hurricane victims to help them rebuild.
Investigators said he is facing charges for possibly defrauding one family, but more potential victims have already come forward.
The first family to come forward was Nancy Moore-Fabian’s.
“I know there’s people out there he’s probably done good things for but there’s probably someone out there that has had to go through the same thing we have,” she told News 6.
Moore-Fabian and her daughter, Gwen Wakenman, said they hired Parker to fix their flooded home, but after they say they gave him over $74,000 in FEMA funding, they say he asked for more money and was getting minimal work done. That’s when they went to police.
“Every room in the house. There’s not one room that is finished,” said Moore-Fabian. “Now I’ve got to hire another contractor to come in, tear out what he has done and replace it correctly.”
Port Orange detectives said they started investigating Parker and found he also was not a licensed contractor but was using someone’s license.
“When we researched the general contractor’s license it came back to a Steven Parker but a different Steven Parker in Southwest Florida,” said Detective James Fischetti.
The Steven Parker in Volusia County, though, was coined a local hero by residents and city officials after Hurricane Ian when he went around fixing up veterans’ and seniors’ homes allegedly with his own money.
News 6 met him once at a veteran’s homecoming after Parker rebuilt his house, and another when our team honored him with a “Getting Results Award.”
“To say I’m shocked is an understatement because this is somebody we just finished celebrating,” said Mayor Don Burnette.
‘If he helped you, take a second and third look at what he did for you to make sure it made sense,” added Burnette.
Parker bonded out of jail Thursday morning. News 6 reached out to him for comment, but he has not returned calls.
He did take to Facebook to post a statement:
“By now everyone has seen my mugshot. Not my best moment. I will say this only once. I am innocent of the charges. This is an accusation that was made by one person that took it to the extreme when she was not happy with the work that was being done. There are a lot of false statements made and it will be proven. I have nothing to hide and that’s all there is to it. Again, I am innocent. This will not change due to armchair fb posts. I have done a lot of good in the community. I would hope people give me the benefit of the doubt.”Steve Parker Facebook post
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Parker is expected to have his arraignment on Nov. 21.