Man accused of crashing stolen 18-wheeler into TX DPS office was 'traumatized', family says

CHAPPELL HILL, Texas (KTRK) -- Family of the Chappell Hill man accused of driving a stolen 18-wheeler into the Brenham DPS office says he was traumatized by a car crash several years prior.

Lena Randle, who says Clenard Parker is her adopted brother, said that Parker was usually quiet in the aftermath of the crash and sometimes given to delusions.

"He asked me, do I remember when Donald Trump came here while he was talking to his grandma?" Randle said, adding that Trump never visited their home.

But Randle stressed that Parker was never angry.

"If he ever gets upset, you never know that," Randle said.

DPS said Parker, who Randle said used to drive big rigs, went to the Brenham DPS office Thursday afternoon to renew his commercial driver's license but the renewal was denied.

On Friday morning, troopers say Parker went to a gas station in Chappell Hill and stole the 18-wheeler used in the crash.

Law enforcement caught up with him in Brenham and briefly pursued him on Highway 290 before they say he intentionally turned the big rig into the DPS office.

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"I just really don't know what happened with him. Really don't. Can't even figure that out," Randle said.

Parker has several prior criminal charges.

In 1999, he was arrested for criminal trespass.

In 2022, he was arrested for criminal trespass and arson.

He's currently being held in the Washington County Jail. So far, he's only been charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and evading arrest.

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