DNA links man with 2nd assault

DNA evidence has linked a Chicago man already in custody for a May sexual assault of a woman in her Uptown apartment to an earlier sexual assault, according to authorities.

Benjamin Johnson, 40, was ordered held without bail by a Criminal Court judge on the new charge of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman in the 600 block of West Addison Street.

Prosecutors said that about midnight March 28, Johnson loosened the light bulb in the foyer of the woman's apartment building and waited for her to show up.

When the woman walked in, Johnson allegedly beat her and took her into a utility room, where he used the laces from her shoes to tie her hands behind her back, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.

Before allegedly sexually assaulting her, Johnson forced the woman to put on a mask and robbed her of her keys, a CTA card and money, according to a police report. After that attack the woman was hospitalized and a rape test was conducted, according to a police report.

Johnson, of the 5000 block of North Lincoln Avenue, was already being held without bail for the May attack, when he was charged with the earlier assault.

Prosecutors said in the May case, Johnson allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in her apartment in the 4100 block of North Sheridan Road.