DENTON, Texas — Denton Police arrested a registered sex offender on multiple charges following a home invasion Friday morning.
The Denton Police Department (DPD) said a female resident reported an unknown male had broken into her residence and physically assaulted her on Friday. She told police she was restrained against her will for approximately two hours and threatened and cut with a knife during a struggle.
The suspect ran away with her credit card, and she was able to free herself from the restraints and call 911, DPD said. According to the department, detectives reviewed home surveillance video and identified the suspect as 72-year-old Paul Merritt, a registered sex offender.
DPD said detectives made contact with Merritt and he was still wearing the same clothes from the home surveillance video. They said he also had fresh scratches on his face.
DPD said during his interview, Merritt confessed to multiple crimes. He told them that approximately two months prior, he saw the woman at a store, followed her, and watched her at her residence multiple times. He said Friday was not the first time he had tried to break into her home.
Merritt also lied about his residential address and was primarily living at another residence, failing to comply with his sex offender registration requirements, DPD said.
Merritt was arrested and charged with stalking, failure to comply with registration requirements with previous conviction, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint and burglary of habitation with the intent to commit another felony. He was taken to Denton County Jail with a $355,000 bond.
Police are asking anyone additional information about Merritt that may be relevant to detectives to call 940-349-8181 and reference case #22186808.
More Texas headlines:
