Teen Sentenced For Burglary, Pistol-Whipping Elderly Man

A man accused of beating an elderly man with a gun will spend the first 12 years of his adult life in prison.

Jermail Coleman, 18, of Cleveland Heights, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday after police say he assaulted an elderly Cleveland Heights man.

Coleman pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated burglary with firearm specifications, one count of felonious assault and one count of grand theft Dec. 12.

Prosecutors say Coleman and his younger brother knocked on the door of an 87-year-old man’s home on Aug. 13, 2012 and asked to use the phone. The man did not let the two in, but later, Coleman and the juvenile broke into the home through a second story window, took a gun from a bedroom, and assaulted the elderly man with it.

The two teens threw the elderly man to the floor and fled, prosecutors say.

Coleman was caught in October after a resident called in a report of gunshots near Woodview Road in Cleveland Heights. Police responded and caught up to Coleman and two teens. According to reports, the three had a handgun and other items that had been reported stolen from cars.