Kidnapping, Assault Spree In 2 Counties Ends In Man's Arrest In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Monmouth County man is being held in connection with a spree of attacks Thursday into early Friday in Ocean County and an aggravated assault in Burlington County that happened Thursday, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Saturday.

Quamel J. Benton, 35, whose mailing address is in Farmingdale, was arrested early Friday after crashing the SUV he was driving at Route 70 and Whitesville Road in Toms River, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Billhimer said Benton is accused of being the man who tried to pull a teenage girl in Lakewood into his vehicle about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Authorities who responded to the call at Forest Park Circle were told the girl was able to break away from the man, who was driving a smaller-model white SUV, Billhimer said. She ran back to her home and the suspect fled. They were able to get a description of the vehicle and the suspect and began searching, Billhimer said.

About 90 minutes later, at about 9 p.m., Toms River police answered a report of a female being sexually assaulted in the parking lot at Target, Billhimer said.

The victim told police a man had approached her and grabbed her in an inappropriate manner, then took off, he said, but police were able to identify the suspect and followed him as he fled from the Target parking lot.

The man took off at high speed and got on the Garden State Parkway northbound, and the pursuit was terminated because he was driving erratically, Billhimer said.

Police were able to get his license plate number and learned Benton, who was believed to be driving the SUV, also was a person of interest in an aggravated assault in Willingboro that had happened earlier in the day, Billhimer said.

The ongoing investigation confirmed Benton was the suspect in both the Lakewood kidnapping attempt and the sexual assault in Toms River, he said.

At about 12:40 a.m. Friday, Toms River police were called after a man tried to get into a vehicle occupied by a female, Billhimer said. The officers who responded were able to positively identify Benton as the man trying to get into the vehicle, he said.

Benton tried to take off again and as Toms River police pursued him, Benton lost control and crashed into a utility pole at Whitesville Road and Route 70, Billhimer said. He got out of the SUV and tried to run but Toms River officers chased him down and caught him, the prosecutor said.

Benton has been charged in Ocean County with attempted kidnapping; luring; endangering the welfare of a child; criminal sexual contact; two counts of eluding; resisting arrest, and obstruction, and by Willingboro police with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in the incident that happened there earlier Thursday, Billhimer said.

Benton is being held in the Burlington County jail pending a detention hearing.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit, Lakewood Township Police Department, Toms River Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Forensic Services Unit, Willingboro Township Police Department, and New Jersey State Police collaborated on the investigation, Billhimer said.