Man Who Allegedly Struck Woman With Baseball Bat Charged With Attempted Murder In South Jersey

The additional charges against Quamel Benton include Attempted Murder (First Degree), Endangering an Injured Victim (Third Degree), and five counts of Neglecting a Child (Fourth Degree), according to Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw.

He was initially charged with Aggravated Assault (Second Degree) and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Third Degree) following his apprehension on Friday, March 22.

The investigation began Thursday, March 21, after officers from the Willingboro Township Police Department responded to a residence in the first block of Raeburn Lane in Willingboro for a report of a disturbance. They discovered an adult female inside with a severe head wound. She was airlifted to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she remains in critical but stable condition, Bradshaw said.

The investigation revealed that after assaulting the woman, Benton fled in her vehicle prior to the arrival of police, leaving young children in the household, she said.

Benton was apprehended by officers from the Toms River Police Department in Ocean County just before 1 a.m. on March 22 following a foot pursuit that began after he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a utility pole, she said.

In addition to eluding and resisting arrest, he was charged in Ocean County with trying to pull a teenage girl into his vehicle, and also with approaching a woman in the parking lot of a retail store and grabbing and touching her in an inappropriate manner, authorities said.

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