Man charged with beating, trying to sexually assault woman in Millennium Park parking garage
A man has been charged with beating and trying to sexually assault a woman in the Millennium Park parking garage in downtown Chicago.
Garland Benton, 45, of Crystal Lake, has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and one count of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault.
Police said, around 6:30 a.m. Monday, Benton beat, sexually abused, and tried to sexually assault a 20-year-old woman was walking in the garage in the first block of North Michigan Avenue.
During the attack, he also pushed a 65-year-old woman who tried to intervene, and then fled the scene.
The victim was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition.
Police said Benton was located a short time later and was taken into custody. According to unconfirmed police dispatch reports, witnesses him to the Monroe stop on the CTA Red Line, where officers took him into custody.
Benton was due to appear in court for a detention hearing on Tuesday.
The CBS Investigators uncovered Benton has a disturbing history of assaults and violence, including against women. In 2020, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for punching a woman in the face on the Blue Line.