Driver crashes 18-wheeler into Texas public safety office, 1 dead, police say
BRENHAM, Texas — A Texas semitrailer driver rammed a stolen 18-wheeler into a public safety building where his renewal for a commercial driver’s license had been rejected, killing one person and injuring 13 others, authorities said Friday.
The driver — identified as Clenard Parker, 42 — was pulled out of the truck by authorities after smashing into a Texas Department of Public Safety office in the rural town of Brenham, outside of Houston, Sergeant Justin Ruiz said.
Authorities say Parker was taken into custody but did not say which charges he would face.
“This deliberate, heinous act is a reminder of the dangerous work done by our law enforcement and licensing agencies that work to provide public safety and services,” Republican state Senator. Lois Kolkhorst said in the statement.
Of those injured, two people were flown to CHI St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bryan, one was flown to Memorial Hermann in Houston and three people were transported to Baylor Scott and White in Brenham but have since been released. Eight people were treated on the scene. Kolkhorst said in the statement that no DPS staff suffered serious injuries and one staffer was trapped “for a period of time” in the building.
Texas DPS officials said in a social media post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the crash happened at the agency’s office in Brenham, located about 75 miles west of Houston and requested people avoid the area to clear the way for responding medical personnel.
The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident and there is no further threat, DPS officials said Friday.
Images from the scene showed a large, red tractortrailer hauling material on a flatbed in the parking lot of the building. The front end of the 18-wheeler was damaged and covered with debris from the front doors of the office. Debris was also scattered out front near a gaping hole in the entrance.
The Texas Department of Public Safety is a sprawling agency and one of the largest state law enforcement operations in the country. It includes troopers who are a central part of a massive border security operation on the US-Mexico border as well as the Texas Rangers, the state’s top criminal investigators. But the department also has offices across the state that issue driver’s licenses.
City of Brenham officials did not immediately respond to calls seeking further information.