Two men with lengthy juvenile criminal records, including prior carjacking adjudications, were sentenced to 16 years in prison Thursday for a violent Gold Coast crime spree that saw them beat a woman, try to carjack a man outside Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mansion, and finally steal a food delivery driver’s car at gunpoint.
Demontae Watkins, 20, and Charles Benson, 23, pleaded guilty before Judge Neera Walsh to charges stemming from the January 16, 2024, spree, which lasted about 20 minutes and ended with both men fleeing in a stolen Nissan as police helicopters tracked them from above.
It all began around 7:30 p.m. as the pair approached a 26-year-old woman in the 1500 block of North State Street. Watkins allegedly pointed a handgun at her and demanded her keys and valuables before the men pushed her to the ground and kicked her repeatedly, including in the face, prosecutors alleged…