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Road rage may have hurried death
• Heart attack apparently interrupts 911 call.

by David Boyce

A man claiming to have been beaten and carjacked apparently collapsed from a heart attack while making a 911 call from his Skyline Boulevard home shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday, March 16.

Donald Frailey, 66, was pronounced dead after cardiopulmonary resuscitation efforts by paramedics failed to revive him at his home at 13670 Skyline Boulevard in unincorporated Woodside, said Capt. Don O'Keefe of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's deputies are skeptical about Mr. Frailey's claims of being attacked. His body showed no external signs of injury, and the person alleged to have attacked him — a 42-year-old electrician from Woodside — admitted to a roadside verbal confrontation but he insisted that no blows were exchanged, deputies said.

The county coroner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of Mr. Frailey's death.

Deputies originally suspected a home-invasion robbery, but pieced together a chronology using accounts by the electrician and witnesses to the car chase. A Sheriff's Office tracking dog also helped.

The electrician's story

Capt. O'Keefe said that this was the electrician's account:

While in a pickup truck headed south on Skyline Boulevard, a few miles south of Highway 92, he said he came up behind a black BMW traveling under the speed limit.

He tried to pass, but the BMW would speed up, he said. When he did manage to pass, the electrician said he recognized Mr. Frailey behind the wheel.

Mr. Frailey tailgated him and a chase ensued, he said. The electrician turned off Skyline into Tunitas Creek Road -- about 5 miles north of Highway 84 in Woodside — and eventually pulled over and got out to confront Mr. Frailey. The electrician said he thought Mr. Frailey might follow him home.

The exchange was verbal, not physical, he said.

The electrician said that before leaving the scene, he reached into Mr. Frailey's car, removed the keys, and threw them into the bushes. He said he didn't think more about it until Sheriff's Office detectives contacted him.

Witnesses confirmed the chase account, saying that they saw a pickup and a black BMW "trying to pass each other" and "following each other at an unsafe distance" on Skyline Boulevard, said Capt. O'Keefe.

A road crew working on Tunitas Creek Road told of a pickup truck going by at "a high rate of speed" and being followed by a black BMW. About 45 minutes later as the crew was headed west, they found the BMW unoccupied and a set of keys on the side of the road, said Capt. O'Keefe.

Tracking Mr. Frailey

Sheriff's deputies used a tracking dog to retrace the steps of Mr. Frailey from his abandoned car to his home. Mr. Frailey apparently walked home to get a spare key; a car key was found under the chair where he died.

Mr. Frailey's wife was in the house when he made the 911 call, but she is hard of hearing and did not know he was home, deputies said. She said her husband had left home around 2 p.m. to go to the post office in San Mateo.

The electrician who drove the pickup truck is considered "a person of interest" in the investigation, but has not been charged with a crime. The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office will determine whether charges will be filed, said Capt. O'Keefe.

—— Bay City News contributed to this story.