A man from Crystal Lake, known for a history of violent offenses, has been charged with sexually assaulting a woman inside a Millennium Park parking garage on Monday morning. Prosecutors report that the attack was thwarted by witnesses who managed to fend off the assailant using a water bottle and a wet floor sign.
The incident involved a 20-year-old woman who had parked her vehicle at the Millennium Street Parking Garage located at 30 North Michigan Avenue at approximately 6:40 a.m. on Monday. As she was walking to work, Garland Benton, 45, allegedly grabbed her by the arms and threw her to the ground, according to Assistant State’s Attorney Karen Crothers.
Crothers stated that Benton, who was a stranger to the woman, then got on top of her, struck her face, and pulled up her clothing, proceeding to sexually abuse her as she screamed for help and fought back.
A 65-year-old female co-worker of the victim, who arrived at the garage at the same time, heard the screams and rushed to the scene. She reportedly witnessed Benton with his mouth on the woman’s chest, attempting to remove her pants. The co-worker intervened by hitting Benton with a water bottle, but he retaliated by knocking her down.
Two additional witnesses, on their way to work, also heard the cries for help and came to assist. They allegedly observed Benton near the woman, adjusting his own pants. Crothers noted that Benton tried persistently to push through them to reach the victim again.
Another witness ran toward the disturbance and found Benton on top of the victim again, this time biting her chest and grabbing at her pants. This witness used a wet floor sign to beat Benton, eventually pulling him away from the woman. Despite this, Benton continued to attempt to charge at her during the scuffle, as Crothers described.
The witnesses managed to stop the assault, and Benton fled the scene. Surveillance cameras captured both the attack and his escape, prosecutors confirmed.
Personnel from CTA Mass Transit tracked Benton in real-time via surveillance cameras to the Monroe Street CTA station. There, he was seen putting on a tan hat, a pink scarf around his face and neck, and a red jacket over his black sweater before boarding a Red Line train. He was later seen on video at the Orange Line stop at 26th Street and Halsted, where prosecutors allege he changed his jeans and sweatshirt while waiting at a bus stop.
Chicago police, who apprehended him at the bus stop, recovered a sex device from his possession along with a one-way Amtrak ticket to Kansas City, Crothers stated.
The victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where a sexual assault evidence kit was collected. She suffered scratches on her chest, breasts, neck, and face, as well as bruising. The co-worker who intervened experienced pain in her right shoulder from being knocked down.
Benton faces charges of attempted criminal sexual assault causing bodily harm, criminal sexual abuse causing bodily harm, and two counts of aggravated battery in a public place. The judge’s name who ordered his detention is currently unavailable due to a technical issue.
Crothers detailed Benton’s extensive criminal history, highlighting an arrest in November in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for traffic offenses, concealing identity, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and failure to appear on a felony charge. The status of that case remains unknown.
In February 2024, Benton was arrested for disorderly conduct in Las Vegas, followed by a conviction for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. In December 2022, prosecutors allege he threatened a postal worker with shooting and killing over a mail dispute.
In June 2020, Benton was convicted of public indecency in Cook County, receiving a 364-day sentence. That same year, he was sentenced to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for aggravated battery on a CTA platform, where he allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old woman.
In 2019, he received a five-year state prison sentence for criminal damage to property at a Cricket Wireless store. He was also convicted of battery and aggravated assault in separate incidents that year.
In 2016, Benton was sentenced to a year in state prison for threatening to kill a law enforcement officer in court. In 2015, he received probation, later converted to two years in state prison, for assaulting an elderly woman on a CTA bus.
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