Naperville man charged with threatening ex via Facebook

A 19-year-old Naperville man, already with a history of run-ins with the law, is back in jail, accused of threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend in a message left on the woman's Facebook account.

Christopher J. Bensfield, of 28W681 75th Street, is charged with felony harassment stemming from the late January message. Naperville police said the 19-year-old woman asked Bensfield to stop contacting her several times before she received the threat.

He is currently being held at the DuPage County jail in Wheaton in lieu of a $125,000 bond.

Bensfield is already on probation as a result of his guilty plea to possession of a controlled substance in September of last year. He was arrested in August 2008 after failing to obey a stop sign while driving through Naperville. When police searched his vehicle they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to court records. It was the third time Bensfield had been arrested for marijuana possession since April of 2007 when he was nabbed with drugs at Naperville Central High School, according to court records.

In addition to probation, Bensfield's mother currently has an order of protection against him. She told Naperville police that her son called her looking for money in late December, then broke into her Naperville home, punched holes in walls and broke other items before fleeing, court documents read. He was charged with criminal damage to property for that episode.

Bensfield's mother also states in the court papers that her son suffers from bipolar disorder and has not been taking his medication.

In addition to his drug charges, Bensfield was ticketed five times in a span of less than three months in 2008 for a series of driving infractions that included speeding, driving without insurance, transportation of an open alcohol container and driving too fast for conditions.