22-year-old woman finds man in home, then he beats her with frying pan, Florida cops say

A woman got home to find a man waiting inside in the dark, then he attacked her with a frying pan and a pipe until she blacked out, Florida law enforcement said.

Sean-Michael Cooper, 20, is charged with attempted murder and burglary with battery in the Jan. 2 St. Petersburg home invasion, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Cooper and the 22-year-old woman knew each other, but investigators declined to specify how.

When the woman got home that evening, Cooper is accused of attacking her. He hit her in the head with a glass pipe, pepper-sprayed her and started beating her with a frying pan, deputies said.

Then he’s accused of choking her, taking her phone and telling her to take off her clothes so he could sexually assault her.

She refused and said Cooper threatened to kill not only her but her mother and her pets, according to deputies.

He went back to hitting her until she lost consciousness, then deputies, responding to a “burglary in progress,” arrived shortly after 3:30 a.m. to find him standing outside, bloody, the sheriff’s office said.

The woman was hospitalized in serious condition, but her injuries weren’t life-threatening, according to deputies.

St. Petersburg is part of the Tampa Bay area.

This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM with the headline "22-year-old woman finds man in home, then he beats her with frying pan, Florida cops say."