Man accused of breaking into homes, watching women sleep
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two Raleigh women are afraid to sleep in their beds after a man walked into their bedrooms in the middle of the night.
Police said Shaun Coleman, 32, broke into at least three homes in a neighborhood near New Allen and Ridgemont over a two-month period.
Investigators said Coleman was arrested after he was caught on camera near one home and admitted to pleasuring himself while he watched women sleep.
“They called him cat burglar because he was so good at what he was doing,” said one of the victims.
A woman who lives on Merlcrest Cove said Coleman broke into her house and her neighbor’s home twice in late March.
She said he got in through the sliding glass doors in her kitchen. The first time, he ran in and out of her home, and the second time, she said he made it all the way to her bedroom.
“I was asleep when he opened my door. He didn’t stand over me. He was on his knees,” she said. “He was coming toward me.”
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She said she yelled at him to get out of her house and implied she had a gun.
“I did act like there was someone behind him in the other room, and I continued to yell shoot him, shoot him, and eventually he crawled out the back door,” said the woman.
On Friday, the woman was moving out of her rental home on Merlcrest. She said she was relieved Coleman was caught but no longer feels safe there.
“I’m moving far away,” she said. “I quit my job because I had to go out in the middle of the night, and I could no longer do my job.”
Her neighbor has also had some sleepless nights. She said Coleman broke into her house twice through a back window.
She said he stood over her bed for what seemed like several minutes. She said she pretended to be asleep and waited for him to leave.
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“If you are coming at this time in the morning, do you have a weapon? Do you have a knife? Do you have a gun? I didn’t know what to do. I’m just lying there,” she said. “It’s spooky.”
Police said early Tuesday morning, a man fitting the same description broke into a house on Braycrest Cove and stood over a woman while she was sleeping. The woman was able to scare him away.
Investigators said two days later, Austin Peay Station taskforce members located Coleman at a gas station nearby and said he admitted to being inside the Braycrest Cove home. Another victim was able to identify him.
Coleman was charged with two counts of aggravated burglary, sexual battery, and indecent exposure.
Court records show Coleman was arrested for sexual battery in 2013. In 2016, he received a three-year suspended sentence after he pled guilty to aggravated burglary.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. Bond was set at $65,000.
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