LEAGUE CITY — A teenager accused of assaulting League City Mayor Toni Randall in an alleged road rage incident in May has been formally charged with deadly conduct with a vehicle and assault causing bodily injury.
Each of the two class A misdemeanors is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
Police accused Denshay Benson, 18, of trying to force Randall off the road on her trademark red scooter and then shoving her to the ground when they confronted each other in the parking lot of a Clear Lake Shores business on May 20.
But Benson said the mayor forced the confrontation by braking abruptly in front of him, following him into the parking lot, shouting racial slurs at him and pouring a drink on him.
Benson, who is African-American, admitted to pushing Randall but said she didn’t fall to the ground, his mother, Candace Ford, said. Ford declined to comment Friday, instead referring all questions to Benson’s attorney.
Houston attorney Matt Alford could not be reached for comment Friday.
Randall declined to comment Friday. She has consistently declined to comment on the incident.
Benson was jailed on charges of deadly conduct and assault in May, but he wasn’t formally charged by the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office until Friday.
Clear Lake Shores Police Chief Paul Shelley said he dropped off all the records requested by the district attorney’s office on Friday.
Benson, then a senior at Clear Creek High School, was driving along FM 2094 when he got into an altercation with Randall.
Police allege that Benson tried to force Randall off the road several times before he turned into the parking lot of Discount Tire, 405 FM 2094.
Randall followed Benson into the parking lot. The two argued, and Benson shoved her and fled, clipping another truck in the parking lot on his way out, police reported.
Benson’s mother and his girlfriend, who was with him in the car, said Benson was trying to get away from Randall, who had been braking sharply in front of him, when he pulled into the parking lot.
Randall followed Benson into the parking lot, taunted him with racial slurs and poured a drink on him, his mother and girlfriend said. He pushed her because he was afraid, his mother said.
A court date has not yet been set.
