Once York County’s ‘most wanted,’ York man sentenced after woman beaten, deputy hurt
A York man who once was the “most wanted” fugitive in York County has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison for beating a woman and later seriously injuring a deputy, officials said.
Johnny Michael Benfield, 31, was sentenced to 21 years in prison Thursday afternoon in York County criminal court by Judge Brian Gibbons. Benfield pleaded guilty in a courtroom packed with York County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who were there because one of their own remains in a wheelchair after trying to apprehend Benfield.
Benfield pleaded guilty to assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and resisting arrest, said Matthew Hogge, 16th Circuit assistant solicitor.
Woman and deputy hurt
Benfield was convicted of the March 25 attack on a woman in which she received serious injuries that included multiple cuts, bruises, and broken facial bones, Hogge said.
Benfield was on parole from a 2014 conviction at the time of the assault, Hogge said.
After the March 25 attack, Benfield was a fugitive for five weeks as deputies sought him on arrest warrants. The York County Sheriff’s Office listed Benfield on its Web site and York County Crimestoppers during that time as York County’s ‘most wanted’ fugitive.
The attack in March against the woman came when Benfield was out of jail on bail. Benfield had been released on bond in June 2020 after an arrest on charges of reckless driving, hit and run accident with property damage, possession of marijuana, resisting arrest and failure to stop for blue lights, according to sheriff and court records.
A deputy, Sgt. Nathan Clark, suffered a broken ankle in that 2020 pursuit of Benfield, York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said. Clark has had three surgeries, Tolson said. Clark was brought to court Thursday surrounded by several dozen fellow deputies.
Before those incidents, Benfield was sentenced to 15 years in a South Carolina prison in 2014 after he pleaded guilty to burglary and other charges where he shot at a police officer, York County criminal court records show. In 2012 he pleaded guilty to felony drug charges and was sentenced to two years in prison, records show.
Both 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett, York County’s top prosecutor, and Sheriff Tolson spoke in court about Benfield being a danger to the public.
“At some point, you have to say ‘enough is enough’ and incapacitate (Benfield) so we don’t have more victims,” Tolson said after court.
