photo by: Mugshot courtesy of the Kansas Department of Corrections

Robert Lee Coleman is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and law Enforcement Center.

A Lawrence man who was attempting to enter the Lawrence Community Shelter allegedly attacked a staff member who refused to let him in after he had been asked to leave earlier that day.

Police responded to the Lawrence Community Shelter, 3655 E. 25th St. around 7:20 p.m. Sunday to a report of an aggravated battery.

The man, Robert Lee Coleman, 30, was attempting to enter the shelter but a female staff member stopped him at the door, said Sgt. Drew Fennelly with the Lawrence Police Department. Coleman had returned to the shelter despite being asked to leave earlier in the day, and when the woman stopped Coleman he allegedly struck her in the face with a metal object, Fennelly said.

The woman declined medical treatment after the incident, Fennelly said.

Coleman was arrested on suspicion of felony aggravated battery as well as an outstanding warrant. Court records indicate the warrant was in connection with a failure to comply with probation conditions for a misdemeanor domestic battery conviction from 2022.

Coleman has a felony conviction in Douglas County from 2013 for aggravated robbery. He is currently being held without bond.