A transient known to frequent an east San Diego community was arrested Tuesday, accused of breaking into a woman’s home and kneeling next to her bed as she slept in the middle of the night.
Shawn Barton, 23, was arrested in the 9700 block of Winter Gardens Boulevard in Lakeside for residential burglary and assault with intent to commit rape, officials from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department confirmed.
On Saturday, just before 3 a.m., deputies were called to woman’s home on Providence Bay Court to investigate a bizarre break-in. According to investigators, the woman was sleeping in her bedroom when she was awakened by an unknown masked intruder kneeling next to her bed.
As the frightened woman yelled at the intruder, he stood up, made some type of “growling” noise and fled the home, investigators said. The victim was not harmed.
Deputies searched for the suspect right after the break-in, but were unable to immediately locate him. Various items of evidence were left behind at the scene and detectives used to items to begin their investigation.
On Monday, detectives identified Barton as a suspect in the case. Barton – a known transient in the Lakeside area – was arrested for being drunk in public that day and detectives realized he matched the description of the man involved in the hot prowl burglary a couple days earlier.
After being questioned, Barton was positively linked to the case and booked into jail. His bail was set at $1 million. Inmate records indicate he’s scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Local
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information on this case should contact San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
