By FRANCIS McCABE
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A Las Vegas police officer was
indicted by a grand jury on charges he sexually intimidated and harassed women
he met on duty, prosecutors said Friday.
Solomon Coleman faces two
counts each of oppression under color of law and gross lewdness and one count
each of indecent exposure and taking pictures of a person’s private area, all
gross misdemeanors.
Authorities said Coleman
developed a pattern of starting “relationships” with women he met at crime scenes
and on routine calls, using his authority as an officer to gain their trust.
Coleman’s misdeeds were
uncovered in June after a woman complained about his behavior. The
Review-Journal does not publish the names of alleged sex crime victims.
After other officers took her
boyfriend to jail following a domestic disturbance, Coleman stayed behind.
A female officer had already
taken photos of bruises on her neck, arms and back, but Coleman said he also
needed to “check for bruises on her ass,” according to a police report.
The woman told Coleman she
didn’t have bruises there, but he “insisted on checking anyway,” the report
said. She said Coleman pulled down her shorts and underwear to her knees and
asked her to bend over on the bed.
The woman said Coleman stayed
behind to give her paperwork, but then followed her into her bedroom to help
her look for missing house keys.
She felt forced to comply when
Coleman pulled down her pants.
At one point, her son walked
into the bedroom before being ushered out by the officer.
Coleman later exposed himself
to her in her bathroom.
When the officer came back
after his shift, the woman saw him through the blinds but wouldn’t open the
door, she said.
Detectives checked Coleman’s
patrol log, which showed the officer left her home 36 minutes after his fellow
officers.
After the first complaint,
investigators dug through Coleman’s cellphone records and patrol logs. They
found another victim, but she was not even aware of what happened.
Coleman used his phone to
record more than 20 minutes of a personal sex video the woman had stored on her
phone, the report said. The video had been on Coleman’s phone for a year when
detectives found it.
Coleman’s defense lawyer Josh
Tomsheck declined to comment.
Coleman remains on house arrest
pending an arraignment hearing set for Jan. 16 before Judge Valorie Vega.