An Ann Arbor man, Shamz Tabriz, was formally charged on May 9 after reportedly breaking into a 19-year-old woman’s apartment on South U, sexually assaulting her two roommates, and then assaulting her.
Tabriz was arraigned on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree home invasion and two counts of assault and battery. Washtenaw County District Court Magistrate Elisha Fink explained to Tabriz that he must avoid contact with the women at all costs. Furthermore, if released on bond, he must be placed under intense supervision, wear an alcohol tether, as well as relinquish control of his passports.
“I understand you live in the same apartment complex that they live in and that will be a little challenging to not have contact, but your obligation under this bond is to do your best, do better than you think you have to, to avoid contact with them,” she said. “So if you’re in the lobby and they come in, you need to get out of the way.”
Tabriz is a Canadian citizen with U.S. work authorization, according to MLive.
Detective Lt. Matthew Lige said in a video statement police believe Tabriz, a Landmark resident, entered the woman’s apartment through an unlocked door, as he was seen on surveillance footage to be seemingly intoxicated and wandering down the hall attempting to gain access to apartments. He then said the man assaulted her two roommates as they slept in seperate rooms.
Lige said the woman told Ann Arbor police that she was sexually assaulted by Tabriz in her Landmark apartment around 2 a.m. on Saturday, May 6. She was treated at the University of Michigan hospital, and has been released.
“He entered in and he committed an assault on two roommates that were sleeping in separate rooms inside that apartment by inappropriately touching them,” Lige said.
As the first two roomates were asleep, Lige said they did not immedietly register what was happening. After, as the man tried to assault the third woman, she woke up and confronted the man — causing him to flee.
Lige thanked the apartment complex as well as the work done by detectives for the man’s quick arrest.
“Certainly these things are very troubling, and without question problematic for, in this case, the young ladies that were directly involved and their families,” he said. “We go to extraordinary lengths to try to get the appropriate resources deployed as soon as we possibly can in an effort to find the individual or individuals who are alledged to be responsible. In this case, I’m grateful for the work that was done, I’m grateful to the cooperation we got from the apartment complex. Once we were aware of this, within three hours of the initial report being filed, we’re able to identify an individual we believe to be involved and take him into custody on these charges.”