Home Attacker Caught on Nanny Cam Indicted

A man charged with brutally attacking a northern New Jersey woman last summer as she watched cartoons with her 3-year-old — a beating captured on a hidden camera — has been indicted on attempted murder charges.

Essex County prosecutors say 43-year-old Shawn Custis also faces charges of aggravated assault, robbery, theft, burglary, child endangerment and criminal restraint stemming from the June 21 attack. The indictment was handed up Friday by a county grand jury.

The attack in Millburn was captured on a so-called “nanny cam” hidden inside the home’s living room.

The recording showed the woman sitting on a couch with her child, then getting up to investigate a noise in the back of the house. She backed up toward the couch as a man came into the room and started savagely beating her.

The recording then showed the man going upstairs where authorities said he rifled through the family’s belongings. The video showed him coming downstairs multiple times, beating the woman and finally throwing her down a flight of stairs and eventually running out the front door.

The child cowered on the couch the entire time. Police said a 1-year-old was sleeping upstairs. The woman suffered a concussion, chipped teeth, an injured lip, facial swelling and leg injuries.

Custis was arrested in Manhattan a week after the attack occurred and remains jailed on $750,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 28, and his lawyer has said he intends to plead not guilty.

This article appeared in print on page 13 of the February 5th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.