In January 2005, Parker was arrested after punching a traffic agent in the face during a dispute over a traffic citation that he had been issued. He was subsequently charged with third degree assault, a misdemeanor. The charges were dropped after he agreed to take anger management classes.[2]
In 2008, an aide filed charges against Parker, claiming he pushed her during an argument and smashed her glasses.[2]
On May 8, 2009, Parker was charged with felony criminal mischief for attacking a New York Post photographer and damaging the photographer's camera and car door. According to prosecutors, the photographer's finger was broken in the alleged attack.[3] Parker was charged with a felony due to the value of damage to the camera and car door.[4] As a result, he was stripped of his leadership position as majority whip and chair of the Energy Committee.[5] Parker was convicted of a misdemeanor charge, criminal mischief, and on March 21, 2011 was sentenced to three years probation and a $1,000 fine.[6] Had he been convicted of the felonies, he would have automatically lost his seat in the Senate, and the Senate had already expelled Hiram Monserrate for misdemeanor charges earlier in the year. The Senate Democrats expressed an unwillingness to expel Parker as they had Monserrate.[7]
In February 2010, Parker was restrained by his colleagues during a profane tirade against Senator Diane Savino in which Parker referred to Savino as a "b****".[8]
In April 2010, Parker launched into an outburst while colleague John DeFrancisco of Syracuse was questioning a black nominee for the New York State Power Authority.[9] "Amid the nearly two-minute tirade, committee chairman Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) told Parker he would be removed from the hearing room if he didn't settle down."[9] Parker accused his colleagues of racism, and followed up in a radio interview by accusing his Republican "enemies" of being white supremacists.[2] Following the tirade, Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) was quoted as saying that Parker "need[ed] help."[9]