Mother and Child Arrive Home to Mugger Emerging From Night

A mother and child were menaced by a man who appeared out of the dark right after they returned home Sunday night.

The woman brought her toddler inside their South Briggs Street home about 9:30 p.m. and went back out to unload her vehicle. That’s when she “observed a dark silhouette approaching her,” police said.

The woman shouted at the shadowy man to go away and started to scream. The man then pushed her into her home, snatched her purse off the kitchen counter, grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her into the wall.

Just hours later, sheriff’s deputies got a call from the New Lenox police that a man arrested during a traffic stop matched the description of the woman’s attacker. The man, 34-year-old Earl Ben of San Diego, was driving a stolen car and struggled with officers when he was taken into custody, police said. Ben also reportedly has an “extensive history of burglaries to homes and vehicles.”

New Lenox police officers found “incriminating evidence inside the vehicle” as well, police said.

Ben was initially charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting a police officer and possession of drug equipment. He was taken to the Will County jail where he “resisted orders from correctional staff, was uncooperative and physically aggressive,” police said.

Ben was later charged with robbery and even more charges are expected.