POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – Members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office’s Violence Intervention Proactive Enforcement Response (V.I.P.E.R.) team arrested a Pompano Beach man early Sunday morning as he was committing a sexual battery, authorities announced Monday.
According to BSO spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright, Special Victims Unit detectives had been investigating a previous sexual assault involving the suspect, Matthew Merriman Cohen, 44, when they worked with Real-Time Crime Center detectives who helped them identify his vehicle as a white 2003 Cadillac Escalade.
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“On Sept. 15, while surveilling the suspect and his vehicle, V.I.P.E.R. detectives followed the suspect to a gas station in the 500 block of West Atlantic Boulevard in Pompano Beach,” Coleman-Wright wrote in a news release. “They said a woman got into the SUV, the two then drove to a nearby neighborhood and parked in the 700 block of Northwest Eighth Avenue. When detectives saw the suspect, Matthew Cohen, force the victim to perform a sex act on him, they moved in and took him into custody.”
According to Coleman-Wright, the victim told detectives that Cohen had initially offered to drive her to a friend’s house that was nearby, but then demanded sex acts instead.
The victim told detectives that Cohen warned her that he would not harm her so long as she complied with his demands.
“She said she tried to get away, but he pulled her back,” Coleman-Wright said. “She said she was in fear for her life and grateful law enforcement arrived when they did.”
According to Coleman-Wright, Cohen was questioned by detectives before being arrested on one count of sexual battery and false imprisonment.
She said additional charges are pending as the investigation continues. Detectives believe Cohen is responsible for at least two other sexual battery cases in Pompano Beach and believe other cases may have gone unreported.
As of Monday afternoon, Cohen was being held at the Broward Main Jail on a $75,000 bond.
Anyone who believes they are a victim of Cohen is urged to call SVU Det. Melissa Wallach at 954-321-4729.