Man pleads guilty to indecent exposure along roadway

Gregory Benson

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — A good Samaritan got a shock when discovering that a man he thought was injured in a ditch in Bloomfield Township was allegedly exposing himself.

Bloomfield Township police were dispatched to Opdyke and North Fox Hills roads at 2:30 p.m. April 8 on a report of a man in a khaki coat and pants who was said to be masturbating on the side of the road.

A witness told police the man was lying in the ditch on Opdyke Road. Believing the man was hurt or injured, the witness turned around to check on him, and the suspect started walking toward the victim with his pants down and genitals out, allegedly touching himself.

Officers arrested the suspect, identified as Gregory Benson, for indecent exposure, and they discovered he had several warrants from a number of other departments for burglary, retail fraud, disorderly conduct and open intoxicants. He was transported to the Bloomfield Township Police Department.

Benson, 52, was arraigned April 9 in 48th District Court and was issued at $10,000 cash/surety bond.

He entered a guilty plea April 16 in 48th District Court. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail, and Benson is scheduled to be sentenced May 7.

He was lodged at the Oakland County Jail at press time. Benson did not have an attorney on file at press time.