Suspect In Garden Grove Home Invasion Robberies Arrested

GARDEN GROVE (CBSLA.com) — One man suspected to be part of a crew committing violent home invasion robberies in Garden Grove is behind bars Monday.

Jerry Coleman, 34, was arrested Friday and is being held on $250,000 bail, according to Orange County jail records. He was booked on suspicion of robbery, burglary and kidnapping during a robbery.

Investigators waited until Monday to announce Coleman's arrest because investigators were hoping to make more arrests, Nightengale said.

Coleman is a suspect in an Aug. 11 home invasion robbery in the 13500 block of Merello Street and an Aug. 13 break-in in the 8500 block of Hewitt Place.

Police suspect there were up to four men involved in the first robbery and three in the second.

In the Merello Street robbery, three teenagers were home alone when they heard a knock at the door and saw two men at the door, holding flowers as if they were delivery men, Nightengale said. As soon as the teenagers opened the door, three armed men rushed in, tied them up and forced them into the bathroom without their phones.

In the Hewitt Place robbery, the three suspects were holding balloons, again appearing to pose as delivery men. They zip-tied three adults and two children in the home after getting in through an open garage, Nightengale said.

On May 23, there was another home invasion robbery in the area in which a woman was shot in the neck and found with her twin baby daughters in her arms. The mother, a 30-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man in the residence in the 11500 block of West Street were bound with zip-ties by the robbers, police said.

Investigators are working to determine if that crime was connected to the two August robberies, Nightengale said.

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